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SWAZIBANK RECORDS 50% PROFIT GROWTH

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MBABANE – SwaziBank has recorded a profit of E42.873 million during the financial year ended March 31, 2018.

The total profit increased by 50 per cent from the prior year profit of E28.590 million. The increase was attributed to favourable lending activity and a reduction in impairment losses. In financial results issued on Friday, it was reported that bank realised a 12.7 per cent growth in total assets during the year. Total assets increased by E269.646 million from E2.127 billion in the prior year to E2.397 billion in the current year. The growth is attributable to customer deposits and the profit generated during the year. Executive Manager Zanele Dlamini, explained that the bank’s revenue was generated from two primary sources which are interest income and non-interest income. Interest income is interest generated from the core business, which is lending.

She explained that demand for loans was on the rise across all sectors of the economy (construction, agriculture, services, asset finance, housing and personal loans). “The bank has financed projects in excess of E340 million across all sectors: Corporate Business, Asset Finance, Personal Loans, Agriculture, Housing and SMME. As a result, interest income has increased when compared to the previous year,” Dlamini explained. The manager said a healthy amount of repayments had been made by mainly corporate customers. “Which this has partly offset the lending book growth, it has created healthy liquidity balances,” she mentioned. From non interest revenue which is fees and commissions generated from transactional activity: Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) withdrawals, cash withdrawals and once-off lending fees among others. She stated that the bank is continuously reviewing and enhancing its product offerings to ensure a happy clientele.

Dlamini said products introduced during the year included: cellphone banking, internet banking, cardless withdrawals, the Mastercard Prepaid Card and integrations with Swazi MTN to provide mobile money transfers and for individuals and agents and encashments. “The bank also increased the number of ATMs to provide customers with easy access to services,” said Dlamini. The manager said customer relationship management was key for balance sheet growth.
She said responding to customer needs in a timely and efficient manner helped the bank retain and grow its customer base, and this had ensured healthy deposit balances throughout the year. The bank also reviewed its product offerings to ensure that both the loans and deposits products were relevant and correctly positioned to address customer needs. These included periodic reviews of product features, pricing, durations, etc. Dlamini pointed out that significant contributors to the profit growth were the interest generated from lending activity, revenue generated from investment activity (investments in Government Bonds and other Money Market Instruments).

 

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