Absa Group

Overview

Absa Group

former name	Amalgamated Banks of South Africa (ABSA) (1991–2005) Barclays Africa Group Limited (2005–2018)
type	Public
traded as	jse: ABG‡R1R‡
foundation	1986
location	Johannesburg, South Africa‡R2R‡
key people	René van Wyk (Group Chairman) Kenny Fihla (Ag. Group CEO)‡R3R‡
area served	Botswana Ghana Kenya Mauritius Mozambique Namibia Nigeria Seychelles South Africa Tanzania Uganda Zambia
num employees	36,779‡R4R‡
num employees year	2024
revenue	R109.95billion
revenue year	2024
operating income	R95.65billion
income year	2024
net income	R30.65billion
net income year	2024
assets	R2.07trillion‡R5R‡
assets year	2024
equity	R183.28billion‡R5R‡
equity year	2024
industry	Banking Financial services Investment services Insurance services
products	Commercial banking Financial services Retail banking Credit cards Private equity Investment management Investment banking
subsid	List of subsidiaries
homepage	https://www.absa.africa/

Absa Group Limited, commonly known and stylized simply as absa (formerly the Amalgamated Banks of South Africa (ABSA) until 2005 and Barclays Africa Group Limited until 2018), is a multinational banking and financial services conglomerate based in Johannesburg, South Africa and listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. It offers personal and business banking, credit cards, corporate and investment banking, wealth and investment management and bank assurances.[6]

Operating in 10 Sub-Saharan African countries including in-house South Africa, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia,[6] the conglomerate maintains representative offices in Namibia and Nigeria[6] and internationals offices in London[7]

History

Formation of ABSA and Barclays Africa Group Limited (1991–2017)

Absa Group began with the incorporation Amalgamated Banks of South Africa (ABSA) Limited in 1986 from a merger of the United Building Society Holdings South Africa, Allied Bank South Africa, Volkskas Bank Group and certain interests of the Sage Group.[13] In 1992, ABSA acquired the entire shareholding of the Bankorp Group (which included TrustBank, Senbank and Bankfin).[13] In 1997, ABSA changed the name of the holding company to ABSA Group Limited and adopted a new corporate identity. It consisted of four main operating divisions, whose brands; "United", "Volkskas", "Allied" and "TrustBank" brands were retired the following year in favor of the ABSA brand.[14]

In May 2005, Barclays of the United Kingdom purchased 56.4 percent stake in Absa,[15] which was criticized by the then-governor of the South African Reserve Bank, Tito Mboweni, who said he "had yet to see the benefits of Barclays' management of Absa".[16] With the acquisition, Absa Group Limited was rebranded as Barclays Africa Group Limited.

eBank charges (2005-2012)

Finweek Bank Charges Reports from 2008 through 2010[17] found Barclays Africa Group Holdings Limited to be the most expensive bank in South Africa.[18][19][20] Pay-as-you-transact (PAYT) fees increased 82 percent from 2005 to 2010.[19] The 2012, Finweek Bank Charges Report ranked Absa's Gold Value Bundle as the cheapest package option amongst the four banks that were compared. The report has also shown Absa's PAYT pricing structure to have reduced by 25 percent by 2013, leaving it third cheapest in the overall ranking at that time.[21]

In 2013, the group acquired the entire issued share capital of Barclays Africa Limited and issued 129,540,636 consideration shares to Barclays Africa Group Holdings Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary of Barclays) thus increasing the shareholding of Barclays plc to 62.3 percent.

Absa Group Limited (2018-present)

Barclays Bank Plc in 2018 owned 14.9 percent of Absa Group Limited.[32] In March 2018, Barclays Africa announced the group's name would revert to Absa Group Limited, effective 30 May 2018.[33] The company underwent rebranding in 2018, inclusive of a new logo and slogans.[34]

Absa opened an international office in London in September 2018,[7] then in 2019, opened another international office in New York City.[8] As of October 2019, according to Club of Mozambique, Absa Group Limited had total assets in excess of R1.9 trillion as of June 2024.[35][36]

Absa Group

History

Formation of ABSA and Barclays Africa Group Limited (1991–2017)

eBank charges (2005-2012)

Absa Group Limited (2018-present)

Overview and structure

Major shareholders

Subsidiaries

Legal matters

ABSA v. Sweet

Mortgage loans misconduct

See also

External links

References