•  Interim payout amounts to about US$2.8 million across TN CyberTech’s current share base
• Board targets distributions of roughly half of consolidated profit after tax
• Deposits grew 8% while gross loans increased 3% since December

Harare  - TN CyberTech Investments ,the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed holding company formerly known as EcoCash Holdings Zimbabwe, has declared an interim dividend of 0.06674934 US cents per share for the six months ended 30 June 2026 while funding a core banking upgrade, self-service branch conversion and a wider push into embedded financial services.

TN CyberTech had 4.195 billion weighted average shares in issue during the period. The declared rate amounts to about US$2.8 million before dividend withholding tax.

The board has also adopted a dividend policy targeting cover of two times consolidated profit after tax. That policy directs about half of earnings toward shareholders, subject to capital requirements, liquidity, regulatory conditions and investment opportunities.

The dividend now shares a balance sheet with a technology programme that management expects to fund substantially from internally generated revenue over the next 12 to 18 months.

The programme includes an upgrade of the core banking platform, a shift from traditional branches toward remotely managed self-service centres, additional integrations with external business platforms and further tokenised investment products. Each project requires capital before it can generate a return.

TN CyberTech entered this phase with substantial regulatory buffers. Capital adequacy stood at 41% at 30 June, against a regulatory minimum of 12%. The liquidity ratio stood at 89%, against a 30% minimum. Group equity increased to ZWG1.75 billion from ZWG1.59 billion at the end of December.

Customer deposits grew to ZWG5.07 billion from ZWG4.70 billion over the same period. Gross loans and advances increased to ZWG929 million from ZWG902 million.

The figures place the bank’s funding base ahead of its conventional lending book. Depositors supplied an additional ZWG370 million during the six months. Gross loans increased by ZWG27 million. The bank also expanded interest-earning assets to ZWG2.7 billion, which includes assets held outside the customer loan book.

The gap defines the task for TN CyberTech’s new distribution model. Its technology investment has to turn a larger deposit base and wider customer access into lending and transaction income that can recur through changing market conditions.

The bank is already using digital channels to originate small loans. It disbursed more than 725,000 soft loans with an aggregate value of about US$7.9 million during the half year, reaching more than 50,000 people. The average loan was close to US$11.

The volume shows that the bank can process a large number of low-value credit transactions. The earnings case rests on what follows after origination. Collections, repeat use, credit losses, operating cost per loan and the ability to move customers into deposits, payments and other financial products will determine whether the channel produces a durable return.

The non-performing loan ratio rose to 1.5% at 30 June from 0.5% at December. It remains below the 5% regulatory ceiling. The increase sets an early benchmark for the digital credit portfolio as TN CyberTech scales lending through a wider set of channels.

The present income mix also leaves the group with a specific commercial challenge. Non-interest income reached ZWG516.7 million during the half year. Net interest income was ZWG92.1 million. Foreign exchange gains totalled ZWG648.9 million and foreign exchange losses absorbed ZWG653.6 million.

The group’s reported income still contains substantial currency-related movements. The route from a technology investment to shareholder cash must therefore pass through income streams that management can repeat through its own operating decisions. Transaction fees, payment activity, remittances, deposits and well-priced credit form that base.

TN CyberTech’s embedded-finance strategy seeks to place banking services within the customer networks of external partners. The model offers access to users without requiring the bank to build a conventional branch network for every market segment. Its commercial output will appear in the number of active users, the value and frequency of transactions, customer deposits, credit balances, fee income and the cost of serving each additional customer.

The group has begun converting selected branches into self-service and remotely managed sites. It has also launched digital remittance services and virtual Visa cards. The core banking upgrade commenced during the period. These are investments in capacity. Their return will emerge in lower operating costs per transaction, greater customer activity and larger funded assets.

The dividend policy gives shareholders a direct claim on the cash left after these investments. TN CyberTech cannot treat distributions and growth spending as separate commitments. They draw from the same earnings base.

The next set of results will show whether the group can increase loans from its growing deposit base, contain the movement in non-performing loans, expand recurring income from digital channels and maintain its capital buffer after investment and distributions. A larger customer network and a stronger technology platform will carry weight when they begin producing the cash that supports both the bank’s expansion and the dividend now attached to it.

Equity Axis News