Azania profit climbs 15pc in Q1

AZANIA Bank net profit has surged by 15 per cent, thanks to a net interest increase in this year’s first quarter.

The bank’s financial statement showed net profit increased to 6.92bn/- in the three months to March from 6.03bn/- similar period last year.

The lender, in the club of the elite for banks with over 1.0tri/- assets, attributed the results to the strong growth in interest income. Its assets soar 1.21tri/- at the end of March.

The net interest income, the report showed, increased by 17 per cent to 17.31bn/ in the first quarter from 14.74bn/- in a similar quarter last year.

The net interest income was pushed up by the loans book that lent some 845.64bn/- at end of March against 818.01bn/- last December.

Additionally, non-interest income went up over three-time to 6.02bn/- from 1.92bn/- thanks to commissions and fees.

The commissions and fees raked in 2.67bn/- up from 1.15bn/- while foreign exchange contributed 2.37bn/- from 708m/-.

The non-performing loans (NPLs) slightly went down to 21.05 per cent from 26.84 per cent, well above the regulator threshold of 5.0 per cent.

The high level of NPLs forced the lender to set aside 2.2bn/- to impair losses on loans and advances. Additionally, the bank’s customer deposits grew by 11.5 per cent to 597.47bn/- from 535.61bn/-.

Azania’s operation expenses have slowed down slightly by 1.3 per cent to 14.50bn/- despite increasing the number of staff to 570 from 563 but maintaining the same branches.

Azania currently has 24 branches, eight service centres, two collection centres and seven standalone bureaus de changes.

The bank also offers services through digital banking platforms such as Visa cards, Azania wakala, internet banking, and mobile app.