I&M profit soars 30pc in Q4

DAR ES SALAAM: I&M Bank Tanzania’s profit surged by 28.8 per cent in the fourth quarter of the previous year, fuelled by a significant increase in net interest income, signalling strong financial performance.

According to the bank’s latest financial statement released recently, the net profit rose to 6.4bn/-, up from 1.5 bn/- in the same quarter in 2023.

This growth in profit is primarily attributed to an increase in net interest income which reached 21.96 bn/- at the end of Q4 compared to 17.05 bn/- in the same quarter 2023.

Additionally, the bank’s loan portfolio expanded by 1.14 per cent in the fourth quarter, reflecting increased customer trust.

The statement indicated that the bank issued loans worth 435.02bn/-, up from 430.11 bn/-.

Total assets also grew by 3.1 per cent reaching 806.9bn/- in three months to last December against 782.2 bn/- recorded in the previous quarter.

The bank’s non-interest income increased to 12.6bn/- in the fourth quarter, up from 3.2 bn/- in Q4 2023. The gain stemmed from foreign currency dealings, translation gains and fees and commissions.

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Foreign currency dealings and translation gains rose to 2.1bn/- compared to 1.4bn/- while fees and commissions more than doubled, increasing to 3.6bn/- from 1.6bn/-.

Also, non-interest expenses for the bank saw an increase, rising to 17.8bn/- in the fourth quarter, up from 9.1bn/- in the same quarter of 2023.

The rise was attributed to salary and benefit increase, which went up to 4.36bn/- from 3.53bn/-, pushed by the number of staff that jumped to 197 from 189 while the number of branches remained the same.

On other hand, I&M customers deposit decreased to 586.4bn/-, down from 621.1bn/- in Q4 2023.

The non-performing loans ratio decreased to 6.4 per cent from 11.6 per cent. The Central Bank’s threshold is 5.0 per cent.