Bank’s half-year income up 10% to P261m
TLOTLO KEBINAKGABO
Leading commercial bank-ing outfit, Standard Chartered Bank Botswana, gave out loans to individuals and businesses to the tune of approximately P1 billion during the six months ending 30 June 2020.
The latest unaudited half-year results for the period under review show that the bank’s total loan book currently stands at P8.3 billion. Households and small businesses account for the bulk of this after their lending went up by 9 percent (P612 million) for the period under review as they closed books at P6.8 billion.
With that, the bank’s retail segment posted an impressive performance during the half-year, with income edging up 10 percent to close at P261 million while profits were 3 percent higher.
Standard Chartered loans and advances to the corporate and commercial businesses went up by an impressive 39 percent year-on-year (YoY) as they closed the period at P1.6 billion. That ensured that the bank’s commercial, corporate and institutional banking segment posted a 23 percent YoY growth in revenues to close the period at P124 million.
The segment’s underlying profits were at P24 million, up from a loss of P4 million in the prior year. However, total segment profits closed the period at P72 million after a P48 million impairment reversal resulting from a related party transaction.
Overall, the bank’s financial position grew by 3 percent, led in particular by a 14 percent growth in high yielding assets (loans and advances to customers) against a deliberate 27 percent reduction in low to non-yield-ing assets (non-statutory). Liabilities remained relatively flat, notably customer deposits which saw a marginal 2 percent dip.
Key financial position matrices remained stable throughout the period, with the asset deposit ratio climbing to 72 percent on the back of a strong and stable liquidity base.