The star of this year's ranking of asset heavyweights is Standard Bank. Though Old Mutual retained top spot with assets of R668bn, almost unchanged from last year's R661bn, Standard Bank's assets surged by R150bn to total R539bn during financial 2003, the last available audited figure. According to the preliminary 2004 financial results, banking assets alone improved by a further 14%, or R61bn, last year.
Not only did it push out FirstRand from last year's second position, it did so emphatically - FirstRand's asset base was R425bn in June last year, only R30bn higher than a year earlier.
Standard Bank's rise can be attributed to a number of factors. Subsidiary Liberty Life has been the top performer in the life insurance industry in recent years and it has also enjoyed increased contributions from its African operations. But most importantly, Standard continues to report strong gains in all aspects of the banking market. According to latest market share figures, it is showing growth ahead of its rivals in all areas of the banking market.
Old Mutual's slight asset rise in the 2003 financial year reversed a drop during 2002 when the strong rand and Nedcor's poor financial position trimmed R74bn, almost 10%, off the assets of the life office. The recovery was maintained last year when Old Mutual SA's assets under management rose by 15%.
Nedcor is also starting a mild recovery from the woes of the Richard Laubscher era. Its total assets in the 12 months to December 2003 recovered from R267bn to R304bn, and there are signs that it is starting to stop the decline in its customer base.
Among the big four SA banks Nedcor remains in last spot, though just behind Absa, whose assets totalled R307bn in March this year up from R269bn a year earlier. Absa is set for a strong boost in its asset base following the deal with Barclays. The UK bank has stated that it would consolidate its sub-Saharan assets under Absa. The assets for Barclays' 13 African and Middle Eastern operations were last year valued at about R55bn. The Egyptian and United Arab Emirates divisions will not be added to Absa.
Resources giants Anglo American and BHP Billiton are the top-ranked nonfinancial services companies, with assets of R282bn and R209bn respectively. Though Anglo held its asset base steady compared with last year, BHP Billiton's declined sharply from R256bn to R209bn as a result of currency conversions springing from the weaker US dollar.
Sanlam and Investec complete the list of JSE-listed groups with assets totalling more than R100bn. Sanlam grew its assets by about 8% to R194bn in the year to December 2003. Investec's assets declined from R201bn to R175bn in the year to end-March 2004, mainly as a result of the strength of the rand against the pound.
