FSR - FirstRand - Voluntary Trading Update

FSR - FirstRand - Voluntary Trading Update                                      
FIRSTRAND LIMITED                                                               
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)                                  
(Registration number 1966/010753/06)                                            
Share code: FSR                                                                 
ISIN: ZAE000066304                                                              
NSX Ordinary Share Code: FST                                                    
("FirstRand" or "the company")                                                  
VOLUNTARY TRADING UPDATE                                                        
Shareholders are advised that, on a pro-forma basis, FirstRand Limited`s        
normalised earnings (94.3 cents per share), following the unbundling of         
Discovery, are expected to grow between 9% and 14% for the six month period     
to 31 December 2007.                                                            
First National Bank continues to show strong organic growth particularly        
benefiting from its position in the corporate and commercial segments.          
Vehicle and asset finance is a cyclical, interest rate sensitive business       
and therefore WesBank`s earnings have been negatively impacted by the slower    
asset growth and higher bad debts characteristic of the current cycle.          
Rand Merchant Bank`s (RMB) earnings are expected to increase between 5% and     
10% over the comparative period, despite the previous high base created in      
the six months to December 2006 when RMB`s profits increased by 75%. This       
good performance is due to the diverse nature of RMB`s portfolio of             
businesses, with the Private Equity, Investment Banking and Treasury            
divisions showing strong growth for the period. The Equity Trading division     
was not immune to dislocations in the international equity markets and          
incurred losses of approximately R750 million before tax. These losses were     
incurred within the bank`s risk management framework and have not impacted      
the overall profitability of RMB and FirstRand.                                 
None of the Group`s banking businesses have been directly impacted by the       
sub-prime issues in the global capital markets.                                 
The Group`s insurance subsidiary, Momentum, will show a satisfactory            
increase in earnings.                                                           
Sandton                                                                         
1 February 2008                                                                 
Sponsor                                                                         
RAND MERCHANT BANK (A division of FirstRand Bank Limited)                       
Date: 01/02/2008 13:40:05 Supplied by www.sharenet.co.za                     
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