- Profits soars by 180% to $49.9 billion
- Net Interest Income increased from $27,9 billion to $62.2 billion
- Operating expenses were $47.7 billion, up by 57% from $30.5 billion
Harare - Despite the challenging economic landscape, Stanbic Bank thrived in the 2022 financial year posting a profit of $49.9 billion in inflation-adjusted terms, up by 180% from $17.8 billion the prior year.
The bank's net interest income increased from $27.9 billion in 2021 to $62.2 billion in inflation-adjusted terms. This growth was largely attributable to the boast in the average lending book's boost from $31 billion to $160 billion as a result of the writing of new lending assets and the purchase of new financial investments.
Net fee and commission income for the Bank increased from $25 billion in 2021 to $36.1 billion, a 44% jump. This was primarily caused by the addition of new customers and an increase in the number of transactions on our digital platforms.
The institution closed the year with a qualifying core capital of $83.5 billion, up from the prior year's $11 billion. The amount, which equals USD 124.4 million, exceeds the required regulatory minimum.
The level of foreign currency transactions had increased as the year concluded, shifting from transactions mostly being handled in local currency to foreign currency, as was the situation with other banks like First Capital Bank. This pattern is anticipated to continue in the financial year 2023, and with First Capital Bank declaring its intention to join the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange, it is unclear whether other banks will be enticed to do the same as the need for foreign capital grows in the banking sector.
The impact of the continued depreciation of the Zimbabwean dollar against the US dollar on foreign-denominated expenses, such as franchise fees, IT license fees, cash importation and repatriation charges, and insurance, led to the bank's total operating expenses closing the year at $47.7 billion, up by 57% from $30.5 billion in 2021.
The Bank's customer deposit base increased from $315 billion in 2021 to $363.3 billion in real terms, principally due to growth in our local currency deposits by the expansion in the money supply, new client acquisitions, and the effect of the sustained depreciation of the Zimbabwean dollar against the Greenbank on the bank’s deposits denominated in other currencies.
Stanbic launched brand-new, innovative products in 2022 as the bank continued its digitization journey to enhance the client experience in a more difficult operating environment. The innovations included the WhatsApp platform, a digital onboarding solution and an instant ATM card ordering system.
The Instant VISA Debit FCA Gold card has drastically cut down on the time customers must wait before getting new cards. Several initiatives were put into place, such as sector-specific training sessions for clients, which allowed the Bank to respond to the changing needs which came of clients.
The impressive results by Stanbic Bank followed an equally impressive performance by the institution's parent company, Standard Bank Group, which reported total assets of R2.9 trillion (roughly USD170 billion) during the comparable period to December 2022 while its market capitalization was R284 billion. Standard Bank Group is Africa's largest banking group by assets (USD17 billion). During the financial year that concluded on December 31, 2022, The Standard Bank Group reported headline earnings of R34.2 billion (USD2 billion), an increase of 37% from the previous year.
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