During the reporting period, Absa said it improved the customer journey by advancing digital self-service capabilities. The bank grew customer numbers to 9.6 million over the period, including 2.7 million digitally active clients.<\/p>\n
Absa said that its financial performance was driven by:<\/p>\n
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- New mortgages registered increased by 49% against 2020, whilst the market increased by 41%;<\/li>\n
- Market share for new mortgages registered increasing to 23.2% (2020: 21.8%);<\/li>\n
- Average loan-to-value on new mortgages registered increased to 89.1% (2020: 88.4%); and<\/li>\n
- Mortgages originated by mortgage originators as a percentage of business increased to 64.8% (2020: 57.5%).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
South African Reserve Bank\u2019s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has hiked interest rates in recent sessions, with several more anticipated by economists before the end of the year.<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Absa1.png\")
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\nVehicle and Asset Finance (VAF<\/span><\/span>)<\/strong><\/p>\n
Absa said that the domestic vehicle market experienced a steady recovery in 2021, however, it still remains below pre-Covid-19 levels.<\/p>\n
New vehicle sales increased by 22% for the period ending December 2021 compared to a 29% decline in 2020, however, this remains 14% down on the same period in 2019.<\/p>\n
It noted that the combined new and used financed vehicle market grew by 23% in 2021 after a 28% decline in 2020 although this remains 11% down on the comparable period in 2019.<\/p>\n
Vehicle and asset finance grew 10%, on 24% higher production, increasing market share to over <\/span>23%.<\/span><\/p>\n
Absa said that VAF continued to focus on achieving its strategic objectives “through the implementation of additional customer self-service features on digital platforms”.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/VAF.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nGross loans and advances to customers increased by 10% to R104.1 billion, driven by strong production levels that supported solid instalment sales growth.<\/p>\n
Impairments reduced to R1 426 million (2020: R3 062 million) with the credit loss ratio improving to 1.45% (2020: 3.45%), driven by an improvement in both the underlying collections performance and the economic outlook relative to 2020 as well as the one-off impairment adjustment taken in 2020.<\/p>\n
Vehicle and Asset Finance <\/span>earnings swung to a profit of R605 million, from a loss of R927 million, due to <\/span>a 18% pre-provision profit growth and 53% lower credit impairment.<\/span><\/p>\n
Looking ahead, Absa said that VAF will focus on: the implementation of additional acquisition and payment features on digital platforms, among other things.<\/p>\n