Nedbank optimistic about SA outlook despite only modest earnings growth in 2025

The Nedbank Group has reported a 2% increase in its headline earnings for the year ended 31 December 2025, to R17.2 billion.

Group CEO Jason Quinn emphasized that 2025 was a transformative year for the bank, marked by bold strategic decisions:

“Well executed initiatives included the restructuring of our Retail and Business Banking (RBB) and Nedbank Wealth Clusters, the sale of the group’s ETI shareholding, the acquisition of fintech innovator iKhoka, and, more recently, an offer to acquire a 66% stake in NCBA Group."

Headline earnings per share (HEPS) were up 2% to 3 706 cents, while diluted headline earnings per share rose 3% to 3 628 cents.

Revenue rose 3% to R73.924 billion.

Nedbank declared a final dividend of 1 104 cents per share, a 3% increase from the previous year.

Stephen Grootes interviews the Group CEO and asks about their stated optimism about South Africa while recording only a modest 2% increase in headline earnings.

Quinn details how the mood in the country shifted from the first half of the year to the second.

"In the first half we saw a fair bit of risk off, with the optimism we all expressed post-election struggling to convert, whereas in the second half you saw sovereign bond yields coming dramatically to ten-year lows... We saw the sovereign rating improve with that positive outlook and getting off the grey list, the drop in interest rates; so all of these are real data points that affect our bank's cost of funding and therefore lending to our customers."

Grootes also asks whether the R600 million settlement with Transnet over interest rate swap transactions during the state capture era affected Nedbank's bottom line.

"The 2% growth in revenues was more constrained and I think that was on the back of pretty good lending growth in our consumer business where we saw high single digit growth, but in our wholesale businesses like CIB we still didn't see pipeline conversion come through yet, which I think is more for 2026. The Transnet settlement was more reflected in our cost line as a one off, and I think we feel good about putting that behind us."

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview with the Nedbank Group CEO