Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe’s fee and commission income grew by 13,6 percent from $30,4 million to $34,5 million for the year ending December 31, 2014
Business Reporter
Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe saw its profit jump by nearly $3 million to $20,7 million for the year ended December 31 2014 from the prior year.
A statement accompanying results for the year to December 31 2014 shows that Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe’s fee and commission income grew by 13,6 percent from $30,4 million to $34,5 million.
This was attributable to the increase in the value of assets under custody to around $1,1 billion compounded by the increase in transaction volumes on the bank’s service channels.
Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe chairman, Mr Sternford Moyo said in the statement, the bank’s lending book declined marginally to $252 million largely due to temporary decline in facility utilisation by some of its customers.
Operating expenses increased by 5 percent mainly due to the increase in transaction processing costs incurred in activities such as cash importation and repatriation.
The impressive set of results came soon after the bank was recently named the Best Emerging Markets Bank in Zimbabwe by the Global Finance magazine.
Mr Moyo said the bank’s qualifying core capital stood at $78,5 million against the regulatory minimum of $25 million and as one of the country’s leading financial services institutions is well on the path to achieving the regulatory requirements of $100 million qualifying capital by 2020.
This achievement comes against a challenging operating environment throughout the financial year characterised by subdued international commodity prices for Zimbabwe’s key exports including gold, platinum, ferrochrome and cotton lint.
Mr Moyo said deflationary pressures as evidenced by negative annual average inflation, depressed company profitability levels and generally low internal demand for goods and services were some of the challenges which Stanbic Bank defied en-route to a commendable profit.
The industry’s rising non-performing loans closed the year at a market average of 16 percent having been at 15,92 percent in December 2013, peaking at 20,14 percent in September 2014.
Other issues that dogged the operating environment included loss of export competitiveness to key competitors in the region due to the use of a stronger currency, limited long term capital, low foreign direct investments and constrained lines of credit, power shortages and stiff competition from imports among others.
“In the outlook to 2015, the country’s economic growth prospects remain weak with marginal growth projected in key sectors such as mining, telecommunications and agriculture. We remain confident that we will achieve the 2015 targets despite the challenges faced by the economy,” said Mr Moyo.
“During the period under review, the Bank complied with all regulatory requirements and RBZ directives in all material respects,” said Mr Moyo.
Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe is a subsidiary of Standard Bank Group which is the largest African bank by assets with a unique footprint across 20 African countries. Standard Bank Group is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, and is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.