ABSA GROUP REPORTS GROWTH IN EARNINGS

ABSA Group, Barclays Bank Tanzania’s parent company, has reported an increase in earnings and income for the first half of this year as it underscores its commitment to growth in Africa.

Absa Group, previously known as Barclays Africa Group, said headline earnings rose by 3.0 per cent to about 608 million US dollars in the first half of the year compared with the same period in 2017.

Also, income increased by 3.0 per cent to about 2.8 billion US dollars. Absa Group Chief Executive Officer, Maria Ramos, reiterated the group’s ambition to double its share of banking revenues in Africa to 12 per cent and said Absa is making progress on its innovation journey and in becoming a digitally-led bank.

In Tanzania, Absa’s local subsidiary (Barclays Bank) overall first-half performance was stable with a profit before tax of 9.686bn/-, echoing in a new sense of commitment towards growth in the business.

On cost, in absence of known overruns for the period, costs were well contained to within plan and were 1.8 per cent better year-on-year.

During the period, Barclays Tanzania received an award for Best Investment Bank in Tanzania from the Banker Africa- East Africa Awards. Barclays Tanzania Managing Director, Abdi Mohamed, was keen to congratulate the bank’s employees on buying into the strategic outlook of the bank and by embracing its new commitment to customer centricity.

In Kenya, Absa’s local subsidiary (Barclays Kenya) launched Timiza – an app-based personal loans platform – in March this year. Timiza’s customer base has grown to more than two million by late last month.

Absa launched ChatBanking on WhatsApp banking and Samsung Pay as new propositions for its South Africa retail business this year.

Uptake, particularly in WhatsApp banking, has exceeded expectation with more than 10,000 customers registering for chat banking on WhatsApp within the first 20 days of launching last month.

Reporting on its separation from the international Barclays PLC group, Absa said the programme is on track and within budget.

As part of the separation, the group will rename its Barclays subsidiaries before mid-20200, as agreed with the international Barclays Group, subject to regulatory approvals.

Daily News