FMB yearly profit to rise 75 percent

First Merchant Bank Limited (FMB), one of Malawi Stock Exchange (MSE)—listed banks, says it expects its after-tax-profit for the year ended December 31 2013 to jump by over 75 percent compared to that of the year before.

In a cautionary statement to its shareholders, the bank’s company secretary Daniel Mwangwela, however, advised shareholders that the information on which the trading statement is based has not yet been reviewed by external auditors.

FMB expects to publish its audited financial statements for the year ended December 31 2013 in March 2014.

In 2012, FMB reported K3.4 billion profit, a 70 percent jump compared to the previous year, but five percentage points shy of its projection.

In the year, the bank reported a 96 percent growth in non-interest income to K4.7 percent from K2.4 billion while its net interest income grew by less than one percent to K4.3 billion.

And in the period ending June 2013, FMB reported an after-tax profit of K3.5 billion which the bank said was in line with its projections.

The bank’s assets in the period ending June 2013 jumped by about 18.5 percent to K58.9 billion which included K4 billion in connection with the acquisition of the operations of the International Commercial Bank (ICB) in Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia.

FMB announced the acquisition of ICB Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia, extending its commercial presence beyond Malawi and Botswana where it already exists.

FMB acquired 100 percent shares in ICB Malawi, 70 percent of ICB Mozambique and 62 percent of shares in ICB Zambia all of which are licensed commercial banks in their respective countries.

FMB managing director Dheeraj Dikshit announcing the acquisition said the development will strengthen the bank’s position in Malawi and enable the group to expand its regional footprint, and gain entry into the fast growing economies of Zambia and Mozambique.