JOHANNESBURG, Sept 12 (Askume) – South African bank FirstRand (FSRJ.J) reported a 4 percent rise in annual profit on Thursday , despite absorbing a 3 billion rand ($167 million) pre-tax accounting provision related to a British investigation, markets.
The bank said its normalised profit in the year ended June 30 rose to R38 billion from R36.6 billion in the previous year.
Excluding the provision, normalised earnings would have been 10% higher, group chief executive Mary Vilakazi said in a statement.
The Financial Conduct Authority has asked UK banks to ensure they are adequately prepared to deal with the potential cost of customer complaints arising from a review of the car finance industry .
Regulators launched an investigation into possible overcharging in the industry in January as tensions escalated between thousands of consumers and lenders over commission arrangements.
The bank said that apart from the grants, the UK investigation cost Rs 300 million in legal and professional fees.
(1 USD = 17.9160 Rand)
