Unfortunately, Old Mutual's (OML) half-year performance was again thumped by Rand weakness. But adjust for that and operating profit jumped 17 per cent year-on-year to £761m, which was largely in line with analysts’ estimates.
Significantly, the challenges facing South Africa’s strike-ridden economy - the country’s central bank estimates that economic growth will reach just 1.7 per cent in 2014 - don't appear to be hurting Old Mutual. Banking arm Nedbank, for instance, saw operating profit rise 17 per cent to R6.4bn (£357m), and impairments have continued to fall. The bank is solidly capitalised, too, with a Basel III-basis tier one capital ratio of 12.1 per cent. Moreover, operating profit at the group's Africa-focused emerging markets life and savings unit rose 22 per cent to R5.2bn, with especially strong growth in the South African 'retail affluent' market.