March 3 (Reuters) – South Africa’s Standard Bank said on Wednesday it expects annual earnings to drop in the range of 40%-50% as Africa’s largest bank by assets battles soaring bad loans.

The lender said it expects headline earnings per share, a key metric for South African firms, to be in the range of 883.4 cents to 1,060 cents for the year ended Dec. 31, compared with 1,766.7 cents a year earlier. (Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.)

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