Absa South Africa rules out dividends

Bloomberg

Absa Group Ltd said it’s unlikely to pay an ordinary dividend this year as the South African bank conserves cash to deal with the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
Earnings before one-time items and accounting adjustments will probably decline more than 40% from a
year earlier, Johannesburg-based Absa said. It’s withholding payouts despite having strong buffers and forecasting “improved second-half capital generation.”
The lender is ruling out a dividend even after Standard Bank Group and FirstRand, Africa’s biggest banks, indicated they have surplus capital that could be distributed to investors. South Africa’s banking regulator is following peers in the northern hemisphere, which have urged banks to pause investor payouts until January.