South Africa’s fourth biggest bank, Nedbank, on Tuesday said it had posted a solid set of results in the six months to June this year, thanks to strong revenues derived from fees.

But the lender’s share price remained unchanged on the JSE’s early trade as these results were said to be in line with expectation.

A subsidiary of Old Mutual, Africa’s biggest insurance company and an international wealth manager, Nedbank posted a 13 percent surge in interim profits.

Profits were made better by the company’s robust growth in revenues from fees, with headline earnings a share soaring to 831 cents during the period under review.

This solid performance will certainly lend Julian Roberts, the CEO of Old Mutual, some accolades for keeping Nedbank in Old Mutual’s stable and becoming a major shareholder in the lender.

Old Mutual’s former CEO, Jim Sutcliffe, wanted to dispose of Nedbank from Old Mutual stable, saying the bank was not core to Old Mutual’s strategy.

Additionally, the bank was put up for sale at some point but the parent company did not find a suitable buyer as potential buyers were busy dealing with the ravages brought about by the 2007/08 global economic downturn.

London-based lender HSBC even went to an extent of conducting a due diligence audit in the bank but left in huff without making an offer.

Analysts claimed HSBC abandoned its plan to acquire Nedbank because it found that its retail unit was in serious trouble.

But now Nedbank has become a sound revenue contributor to Old Mutual after having been turned around from losses of 2009 and 2010, particularly in its retail unit.

In the six months to June this year, Nedbank announced a half year dividend of 390 cents. This is 15 percent higher than the previous comparable period.

Nedbank is also in a tactical joint venture with West Africa’s Ecobank, which has opened the JSE-listed lender to many Africa countries.