NFB explains loss, plans expansion

New Finance Bank (NFB) has attributed the loss it made in the year ending December 31 2017 to investments the bank made in its rollout plans.

NFB made a loss after tax of K1.84 billion from K1.9 billion the year before due to what the financial statement said is high costs of deposits and slower than anticipated growth of the loan book.

In an interview on the sidelines of the launch of Limbe Branch last week in Blantyre, NFB chief executive officer Zandile Shaba said the bank, which was established three years ago, had put a lot of money in infrastructure which required a lot of expenditure.

She said: “What we started to do last year was to focus on growth which required a lot of expenditure in terms of marketing and growing, and investments in technology that we are actually going to be rolling out.

“But in the second half of last year, we started making month-on-month profit and we broke even. So, this year, we will see a huge turn around as we are already ahead in terms of budget performance and the losses are a thing of the past.”

Commenting on the launch of the new branch, Shaba said NFB is set to expand its points of representation to a number of areas within the year.

“NFB is on expansion drive and the new branch we unveil today is an addition to the new branches that we will be adding this year. With increasing competition in the financial services sector and changing demands of our customers, NFB is responding to the market by listening to our customers and implementing solutions that speak to them,” she said.

Guest of honour at the event, Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) director of banking supervision Fund Mzama commended the bank for spreading its foot prints through increased retail outlets, which he said have since grown to seven within three years. n