Corporate governance and ethics

• We are committed to maintaining high standards of corporate governance and ethical practices through our governance and risk frameworks.
  
• We launched our revised vision and values in the first quarter of 2005, to reinforce a shared vision and a common set of values across the group.
  
• We were included on both the Dow-Jones Sustainability Index and the JSE SRI Index (JSE Securities Exchange South Africa Socially Responsible Investment Index).

Economic performance

• Our financial performance was in line with our objectives. We increased our headline earnings by 21,8% and we achieved a return on equity (ROE) of 26,4%.
  
• We increased our wealth creation by 14% from R17,7 billion to R20,2 billion. The distribution to stakeholders was: 42% to employees; 15% to governments; 11% to shareholders; and we retained 32% to fund future growth.
  
• Our share price performed well and appreciated by 68% from 1 January 2004 to 31 December 2004. We were one of the top performers in our peer group: we outperformed the bank’s sectoral index, which increased by 60% over the same period.
  
• We announced our Black Ownership Initiative in July 2004, when we sold an effective 10% of our South African operations to a broad-based grouping of black owned entities and individuals. This initiative will help us to retain and attract talented employees, and build a just, free and prosperous organisation that reflects South Africa’s demographic population.

Social performance

• We increased our percentage of black managers from 19% in 2000 to 33% in 2004.
  
• We participated in the launch of Mzansi, an industry-wide initiative to offer a basic savings product to unbanked South Africans, in October 2004. We have since opened about 90 000 Mzansi BlueAccounts.
  
• We developed 26 tactical points of representation, 19 of which were “bank in a box sites” and seven bricks and mortar, for communities that previously had limited access to existing branch networks. Each site consists of two sales desks and a Standard Bank AutoBank automated telling machine (ATM).
  
• We committed R46,8 million to our corporate social responsibility programme, representing a 11% increase over 2003.

Environmental performance

• We subjected our project financing transactions to environmental due diligence and risk assessment processes.
  
• We entered into an exclusive cooperation agreement with one of the world’s leading carbon credit advisory and trading institutions, EcoSecurities. We are working with EcoSecurities on behalf of major South African industrial companies to monetise carbon credits arising from pollution-control and energy-efficiency investments.
  
• We furthered our commitment to reducing our water, energy and paper consumption.
  
• We improved our waste management through recycling initiatives and the responsible disposal of hazardous materials.
  
• We continued to provide a safe and healthy environment for our employees, contractors and customers through our occupational health and safety management system.
  
• We continued to provide environmental education to schoolchildren at Mogale’s Gate at the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage site near Johannesburg.

Future commitments on our sustainability journey

• To fully integrate our sustainable development policies and practices throughout the group.
  
• To continue our commitment to meeting the targets of the charter.
  
• To improve stakeholder engagement.
  
• To improve our people management practices especially in relation to leadership development and transformation.
  
• To commission independent assurers to review our sustainability reports.
  
• To implement a system to assist in the regular monitoring and reporting of sustainability within the group.