South African bank Absa continues to suffer the consequences of the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and declares as unlikely the payment of an ordinary dividend this year in order to maintain liquidity. The bank's net earnings per share are expected to fall by more than 40% by the end of 2020.

Absa's revenue for the nine months to September remained similar to the 3% increase reported in the first half. Gross loans slowed slightly to 5% year-on-year.

The bank's credit impairments for the nine months tripled year-on-year, taking into account the substantial charge in the first half of the year. Meanwhile, credit write-downs in the third quarter were better than expected.

Absa Bank has had to part with 1,200 employees since the beginning of the year. "Much of the reduction came from natural attrition, as Absa instituted a hiring freeze in light of Covid-19. Continued global and local progress towards digital banking has contributed to the reduction," said Absa, which intends to place more emphasis on the development of digital banking.

South Africa's real GDP is expected to follow this downward trend of 8.7% in 2020, with moderate growth of 2.6% forecast for next year amid significant uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.