African Bank Holdings on Tuesday (24 May) published its financial results for the six months ended March 2022 showing a significant improvement in African Bank’s profits compared to a year ago. The bank reported a net profit after tax of R257 million against a R135 million loss in the comparable period.
Group net profit after tax increased by 145% to R372 million, “a testament to the group’s resilience during what has been a difficult time for many businesses,” it said.
The group said it continues to diversify its funding base by targeting retail savings deposits, which grew to R11 billion, from R8.6 billion – an increase of 27%. Included in this are R1 billion (H1 21: R662 million) deposits from transactional MyWORLD accounts; an
increase of 57%.
African Bank said it expanded its retail banking offering, with MyWORLD providing a wider range of products and value-added services for customers. Retail deposits now represent 69% (H1 21: 51%) of the group’s total funding.
The MyWORLD transactional banking offering plays an important element in the group’s new strategy, African Bank said. The number of accounts opened totalled 967,000, up from 558,000, of which 512,000 (H1 21: 290,000) are funded accounts, a growth of 76%.
The group highlighted increased income earned on loan disbursements, up by 89% to R6.35 billion. Lower impairments, which demonstrate healthy credit granting practices, were recorded, it said.
Kennedy Bungane, African Bank’s Group CEO said that the ongoing development of African Bank’s business banking division will continue, such that the bank is able to assist with finance to small and developing businesses.
It is also moving towards an integrated digitisation approach and is re-aligning its IT systems strategy towards new business needs. A new frontline sales programme is also in the pipeline, he said.
“We are thrilled with these positive results and would like to thank our customers, our African Bankers who are the lifeblood of the organisation, our partners, and our communities. Without you and your support, this would not have been possible,” said Bungane.
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Source: Business Tech
