Standard Bank Wealth International has announced a ’positive’ set of results for 2018, reflecting a year of continuing growth for the business.

The business has an office in the Isle of Man as well as Jersey, Mauritius, London and South Africa.

Headline earnings (the primary measure of earnings after tax and other adjustments) for Standard Bank Wealth International were £57 million for the full year - a 55% increase on the previous year’s results.

Further demonstrating Wealth International’s performance, the business achieved a return on equity of 20.8%, with a 4% increase in average deposits to £5 billion and a 12.3% increase in assets under management to £3 billion as at December 31, 2018.

Standard Bank Wealth International is 100% owned by Standard Bank Group, the largest bank in Africa by assets.

The division’s performance and profits, equivalent to more than 1billion South African Rand, contributed to a strong set of results for the wider group where headline earnings were 27.9 billion rand (equivalent to US$2.1 billion, £1.6 billion) 6% up on 2017.

Dividend per share increased by 7% to 970 cents (2017: 910 cents), cost-to-income ratio improved to 57.0% (2017: 55.7%) and return on equity increased to 18.0% (2017: 17.1%).

Jonathan Peake, chief financial officer of Standard Bank Wealth International, said: ’Our 2018 results are the outcome of our continued and disciplined execution of our strategy.

’As part of Standard Bank Group, we continue to focus on connecting Africa with international markets, whilst investing in client centricity, digitisation and delivering a comprehensive financial services proposition to our clients.

’Despite macro-economic pressures across some of our core African markets and rising global macro-economic uncertainty, our banking, investments and trust businesses have all performed well.

’Our operations in Isle of Man remain an integral part of our business, utilising talent and expertise within the island to drive the bank forward.

’These positive results reflect our commitment to provide our clients with the best possible service, while encouraging growth in Africa and supporting the economy of the Isle of Man.’