(Bloomberg) -- Standard Chartered Plc is exploring a potential sale of its wealth and retail banking businesses in a trio of African countries to free up cash that it will plow into other parts of the business.
The lender is exploring sales of those units in Botswana, Uganda and Zambia, according to a statement. The bank said any impact from the proposed exits would not be material to its financial results.
The sales would be the first in a small number of potential business exits.
The London-based lender has doubled assets under management in its wealth business on the African continent in the past three years, but that growth has largely been fueled by its business in Kenya and Nigeria. Botswana, Uganda and Zambia don’t rank among the top 10 wealthiest countries in Africa, according to the consultancy Henley & Partners.
“We continually assess the efficacy of our global business model and regularly take action to concentrate resources where we have the most distinctive client proposition,” Chief Executive Officer Bill Winters said in the statement. “We are confident that the greater concentration resulting from the proposed sales will help us to continue to outperform the market.”
The bank has shrunk parts of its business across Africa in recent years, offloading units in Zimbabwe, Angola, Cameroon, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Jordan and Tanzania.
StanChart’s moves mirror those of global peers like Societe Generale SA, BNP Paribas SA and HSBC Holdings Plc in scaling down their footprint on the continent.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.