09 Sep 2018

-  Barclays Bank of Botswana has announced a pre-tax profit of P260 million for the six months period ending 30 June 2018.

The bank’s managing director, Ms Reinette van der Merwe explained in Gaborone on September 6 that the figures represented a year on year profit growth of four per cent in comparison to the previous year. Ms van der Merwe explained that key performance highlights for the half-year under review included an increase of four per cent in interest income translating to (P596 million), an increase of 10 per cent in net fee and commission income to P176 million, and an increase of 18 per cent in net trading income of P74.5 million.

She further explained that the balance sheet grew by 12 per cent to P16.9 billion while expected credit losses decreased by 12 per cent. “These positive results reflect our ambition to be a leading financial service provider in the market, supported by a prolific and passionate customer obsessed workforce,” she said.

She said the bank was committed to helping individual customers, small businesses, corporates, economies and the society at large to grow. The bank’s executive director of finance Mr Mumba Kalifungwa said they managed to continue on a forward momentum of driving interest income through prudent lending across the bank’s business segments.

Mr Kalifungwa further said the fee and commission income was driven up by enhancement of the bank’s digital channels and increased transaction volumes.

“Our net trading income increased by an admirable 18 per cent year on year. With a challenging global and geopolitical backdrop we outperformed due to prudent risk management, intensified client and segment focus, higher levels of cross-sell and the rollout of new products,” he said.

He said the 12 per cent growth in the balance sheet was driven by loans and advances to customers, which increased by 14 per cent to P11.4 billion. Mr Kalifungwa explained that the bank’s customer liabilities increased by six per cent for the period under review, which compared favourably with the banking industry growth of four per cent year on year.

Based on this improved performance, Mr Kalifungwa said the board had approved an interim dividend of P80 million, which was subject to regulatory approval. He said the dividend translates to 9.38 thebe per share and would be paid to all registered shareholders of the business in October.

‘We remain focused on driving the business growth momentum and addressing the opportunities we see in the business banking and CIB portfolios. We also continue to focus on placing the customer at the centre of everything we do through harnessing technology to develop innovative products and services in line with our customer needs,” he added. ENDS