EXIM BANK POSTS 46% RISE IN PRE-TAX PROFIT

Exim Bank Chief Finance Officer (CFO) Mr Selemani Ponda (centre) addresses a press conference to announce the bank’s financial performance for the 2015 financial year in Dar es Salaam yesterday. Looking on is the bank’s Deputy Chief Finance Officer Mr Issa Hamisi (right ) and the bank’s Chief Internal Auditor Mr George Binde.

Dar es Salaam, February 1st, 2016 - EXIM Bank announced pretax un-audited profit of TZS 35.3 billion for the year ended December 2015 posting a robust growth of 46 per cent over previous year.

Mr. Selemani Ponda, Group CFO of the bank attributed the growth to efficient management of funds resulting into a sustained growth rate of Net Interest Income and a higher Non-interest income getting contributed by Forex gains and fee income

“On the backdrop of a rather challenging year marred by volatility in interest rates (that saw a high of 40%+) and depreciation of the local currency to all time low, the performance of bank can be ranked as highly satisfactory” Chief Finance Officer added.

The Net Interest income grew by 28 percent to TZS 73 Billion from TZS 57Billion recorded the same period in 2015. The growth was largely driven by bank’s focus on low cost deposits, banking on its large presence through 30 branches and effective management of funds.

Further, Non-funded Income during the quarter increased by 25 percent to TZS 50 Billion from TZS 40 Billion recorded in the previous year. The growth was led by higher Foreign exchange margins and supported by other fee income backed by efficient delivery to its Corporate & SME business segments.

Total operating income rose 29%, to reach TZS 123 Billion from TZS 95 Billion, riding on a sharp growth in fees and commissions which were up 29 % from TZS 24 Billion to TZS 31 Billion. Income from forex rose 29% from TZS 9.6 Billion to TZS 12.4 Billion. Operating expenses rose by 20% to reach TZS 80 Billion. The Group’s return on average equity amounted to 20.3%, compared with 17.5% in 2014 whereas return on average assets jumped up to 2.2%, compared with 1.5% in 2014.

The international businesses contributed to 4% to the Group profits as compared to a net joint loss from both the Subsidiaries. It is heartening to note that while bank’s Comoros Subsidiary has been making good profits ever since inception, bank’s forays in Djibouti showed remarkable performance during the year 2015 recording profit of TZS 1.2 Billion. The Group expects both the Subsidiaries to continue to enhance their performance during the year 2016.

Going forward, Exim Bank Group will continue to leverage on advancements in technology to drive financial inclusion and improve customer experience within the region. During the year, the Group rolled out new ‘Chip & PIN’ EMV Faida debit cards, from erstwhile ‘magstripe’ cards towards enhanced safety on usage by its customers.

The bank opened 2 mini branches during the year at Mwanakwerekwe (Zanzibar) and Ushirika Tower (Dar es Salaam).

Commenting on the results, Chief Finance Officer Mr. Ponda said that Bank performance confirms consistency in delivering superior performance and returns driven by our innovative processes and committed staff.

Adding one more to its kitty, the Bank recently launched the 1stever retail bond with an issue size of TZS 10 billion with green shoe option of 50%. The theme remained ‘financial inclusion’ to attract the retail investors by keeping the minimum subscription amount to as low as TZS 1 Million. With nearly 500 applications, the issue was oversubscribed to nearly 2 times of the issue size. The initiative of the bank has been seen as a watershed for the entire financial sector as a novel way of not only raising the debt from the market but also to the cause of financial inclusion.

In order to improve service delivery, a new call centre service for its customers was established, as part of its strategy to deliver an exceptional banking experience while supporting its middle to corporate clients in the Wireless, Financial Services.

Mr. Ponda further informed that the bank has been traversing through a transformation mode laying added thrust on further strengthening its foundation towards sustainability and to attain its medium term vision to be a ‘Strong Regional bank with international practices’. He further informed that bank has made significant investments into ‘People’, ‘Processes’ & ‘Technology’ towards this cause. The bank expects to reap out of these directed investments, over a long period of time.

In concluding, Mr. Ponda added, “We believe our commitment to pursuing a strategy of achieving long-term sustainable growth, profitability, and shareholder value without sacrificing our soundness is again evident from our financial results and overall performance. Of note, we continue to prudently invest for our future in both our products and team as we continue to seek out opportunities to responsibly expand our business and deliver the promise of successful community banking to our customers, prospects, employees, and shareholders alike.”

Mr. Ponda thanked its customers, patrons, Bank of Tanzania, various Government agencies and bodies and its loyal staff for their very spirited and unstinted support in achieving this success.