Stanbic Bank Uganda profits dropped by $1.80 million in the first six months of due to the impact of Covid-19 on the businesses of its clients.
The bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Ms Anne Juuko, said despite the difficult operating environment, Stanbic’s performance in the first six months of the year has shown the banks resilience and commitment to implementing a vigorous strategy in the current economic conditions.
“We reported Profit after Tax of Shs127.4 billion, 4.9 per cent down from Shs134.0 billion in the previous year, due to the impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on clients’ business,” she said.
Stanbic Bank customer deposits from January 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020 grew by $299.64 million which represents a 26.6 per cent year on year growth.
”This growth was enabled by our strong client ecosystem engagement and simplifying client onboarding. Loans and advances increased by Shs661 billion, which represents 24 per cent year on year growth registered across our varied client segments on working capital and term financing.” Ms Juuko added
Stanbic bank’s total assets grew by 26.5 per cent from $1.7 billion to $2.1 billion in the half year period. Its total income increased by $ 6.26 million a 5.6 per cent increase over the same period in 2019.
Non Interest Revenue (NIR) dropped due to business disruptions occasioned by the pandemic while Net Interest Income (NII) registered growth off the back of larger interest earning investments.
During the same period under review, its costs increased by $3.38 million compared to 2019.
While speaking on Credit Relief programmes, Ms Juuuko said: “We offered credit relief programmes to companies and personal customers to minimise the impact the pandemic would have on their businesses. We also waived all charges on our digital banking platforms so that customers transacted free of charge.”
Despite the difficult environment due the pandemic, Stanbic bank Uganda managed to lower its interest rate in response to the Bank of Uganda monetary policy rate.
We lowered our PLR twice during the period to 16 per cent which is one of the lowest PLRs of all active retail financial institutions in Uganda. Our aim is to ensure our customers can benefit from more affordable lending rates.” She added
