Business
Standard Bank Malawi profits up by 56%
August 20, 2020 / Tawina Maluwa
Standard Bank Malawi has announced its financial results for the six months ended June 30, 2020 which indicate that the Group’s profit after tax for the first half of the year went up by 56%.
In a statement signed by CEO William le Roux, the Group made good performance in the first half of the year notwithstanding a challenging operating environment that was characterized by unstable political environment and coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Le Roux says: “Total assets grew by 8% when compared with same period in the prior year. The total asset growth was a result of the Group’s focus on growing its customer base which grew by 5% year on year. Growth of the funding base in the first half resulted in a corresponding increase in loans and advances to customers which grew by 22% year on year and financial investments which also grew by 22% year on year”.
“The low interest rate environment prevailed in the first half and resulted in a modest 2% growth in net interest income despite sizeable growth of interest earning assets. Non- interest revenue grew by 17% year on year arising from the Groups focus on growing the transactional business as well as one off gain on disposal of securities.”
He, however, says operating costs were 11% above prior year mainly due to increase in prices of goods and services.
Le Roux says the Group will continue with its cost management drive to ensure a healthy cost to income ratio and efforts to recover previously written off loans as well as focus on prudent risk taking and management.
The Bank expects foreign exchange supply to remain weak which will continue to exert pressure on the kwacha.
“The impact of the COVID-19 on supply chains and exchange rate dynamics will have strong influence on the direction of the inflation rate and interest rates. Therefore, economic growth is expected to be muted.”
Despite foreign exchange market disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the local currency still held its ground to trade at just under MK750 to the US Dollar during the first half of the year.
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The establishment of a stable and self-sustaining ecosystem, but not necessarily the one that existed before mining began. In many cases, complete restoration may be impossible, but successful remediation, reclamation, and rehabilitation can result in the timely establishment of a functional ecosystem.
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