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Shares of Standard Bank Group Ltd. rose the most in three weeks after a decline in first-half profit was less severe than expected for Africa’s largest lender.
Earnings per share before one-time items in the six months through June probably fell 30% to 50% from a year earlier, Johannesburg-based Standard Bank said in a statement on Wednesday. The stock rallied as much as 4.4%, leading gains on the six-member FTSE/JSE Africa Banks Index and helping to pare the gauge’s decrease this year to 36%.