johannesburg march 11 reuters  south africas standard bank sbkjj reported a 57 surge in its annual profit on friday as african economies gradually recovered from the pandemic fallout although the lender warned of risks to its outlook following russias invasion of ukraine like most south african banks africas largest lender by assets has enjoyed a dramatic rebound in performance as economies bounce back and as massive charges for pandemicrelated bad debts fade standard bank saw a 52 decline in credit impairments to 99 billion rand 65823 million its headline earnings per share  the main profit measure in south africa  stood at 1573 cents compared with 10026 cents a year earlier and at the upper end of its forecast range the company said it was on track to achieve its 2025 targets 2022 has started with strong momentum standard bank said adding global growth was expected to remain above trend and pentup consumer demand should drive up spending and trade it said the rebound however was expected to slow in its home market south africa while other economies in the region faced high debt russias war with ukraine also risked denting the recovery it said warning of potential impact across financial markets trade transport logistics commodity and food prices on the african continent the bank said it had some limited direct exposure to russia and ukraine and was actively ensuring it complied with all local and international laws a londonbased joint venture with the industrial and commercial bank of china in which standard bank has a 40 stake and has dragged on its profits in the past has exposure to entities being impacted both directly and indirectly it is not possible for the venture to assess the impact on its 2022 results as yet standard bank said while declaring a final dividend of 511 cents per share reporting by emma rumney editing by nqobile dludla and sherry jacobphillips