NBS Bank plc has posted a 194 percent increase in after-tax profit to K1.41 in the half-year ending June 30 2019, signalling that the bank’s transformation drive is on track.
The after-tax profit has jumped from K479 million achieved during the same period last year.
In published financial results co-signed by board chairperson Vizenge Kumwenda, the Malawi Stock Exchange (MSE)-listed bank said this feat is despite operating in a challenging and low interest rate environment.
The half-year profit is a turnaround, considering that in the year ended December 2017, NBS Bank plc posted a loss of K1.092 billion.
NBS Bank chief executive officer Kwanele Ngwenya said in an interview on Friday the performance is attributed to “targeted and specific management actions focusing on driving a customer-centric culture, improving governance and risk management, quality of our loan book, growth of money market investments and loans, as well as improving our systems and processes”.
He said the bank has implemented cost- optimisation measures and rigorous balance sheet management to further improve its efficiency ratios.
The bank has registered a 14 percent growth in customer deposits during the six months under review while loans and advances grew by 55 percent.
The financial results show that net interest income has grown by 95 percent compared to a similar period in 2018, largely due to loan book growth and effective management of investments in money market instruments.
NBS Bank says it continues to build capability of its digital offerings—mobile banking, Internet and agency banking—to enhance customers’ experience.
Leveraging on its partnership with its technical partner, Rabobank of Netherlands, NBS Bank’s five-year transformation journey seems to be on track.
The statement says the bank is focusing on growing transaction business through increased digital payment solutions and also addressing systems and process issues that previously affected income lines. Recently, at the 50th Euromoney Awards for Excellence, NBS Bank was named the best bank of 2018 in recognition of the progress and milestones it has achieved.
