HARARE - Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe (Stanbic), a unit of South African Standard Bank, recorded a 15 percent increase in profit to $23,9 million from $ 20,7 million for the year to December 31, 2015 buoyed by a surge in net interest income.
In a statement accompanying the group’s financials, Stanbic chairman Stanford Moyo said the profit surge had been driven by an 11 percent increase in net interest income which closed the year at $42,8 million.
“Net interest income at $42,8 million grew 11 percent from the previous period largely because of the additional short term investments and lending assets which were written during the year,” he said.
The group’s non-interest income marginally decreased to $45,2 million from $45,8 million prior comparable period.
Moyo said the bank’s fee and commission income increased marginally by five percent to $36 million on the back of improved transaction volumes passing through the bank’s various banking channels.
The gross lending book grew eight percent to $272 million due to an increase in facility utilisation by customers and the creation of new interest earning assets.
“The cost to income ratio for the bank improved to 57 percent from 60 percent for the same period last year driven by the four percent growth in total income to $88 million,” he said.
Operating expenses at $48,5 million remained flat of prior year as the bank continued to focus on cost containment.
As at December 31, 2015, the Stanbic’s qualifying core capital stood at $84,9 million up from $78,5 million in 2014 against the regulatory minimum of $25 million.
Moyo said the Standard Bank unit remained on course to meet the regulatory requirements of a minimum capital threshold of $100 million by 2020.
However, the Stanbic boss said the state of the operating environment had remained challenging throughout the year 2015.
He also said the outlook to December 2016 was not positive with the country’s economic growth prospects remaining weak due to the El Nino weather conditions, continued decline of international commodities prices and low internal demand.
“We are comfortable that Stanbic will achieve its 2016 targets despite the challenges faced by the economy,” he said.
Total assets for the year under review increased to $594 million from $560 million as total liabilities stood at $506 million.
The group’s loan to deposit ratio marginally declined to 57 percent driven by a growth in total deposits from $447 million to $474 million, this was on the back of an increase in inflows experienced during the year.