Standard Bank 1H17 Profit Rises 14%

South Africa's Standard Bank Group Ltd. (SBK.JO), Africa's biggest lender by assets, reported a higher half-year profit on Thursday, citing robust earnings in markets on the broader continent, including Angola, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria and Uganda.

The Johannesburg-based bank said profit climbed 14% to 12.34 billion South African rand ($0.93 billion) in the six months to June 30 from the same period in 2016. Headline earnings, the bank's preferred profit measure that strips out certain exceptional and one-off items, rose 12% to ZAR12.11 billion in the first half of 2017.

The bank increased its first-half dividend by 18% to ZAR4 a share. Non-interest revenue climbed 3.6% to ZAR28.77 billion.

Write to Alexandra Wexler at alexandra.wexler@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 17, 2017 03:08 ET (07:08 GMT)