This was said yesterday in Dar es Salaam by the bank’s board chairman Martin Mmari during an investors and analysts meeting which was convened to give details about the bank’s performance in the country.
He said the total amount of dividend recommended was Sh44.4bn, compared to Sh32.6bn paid out for the year 2014. This was a 34.47 per cent of net profit for the year 2015 and 13.3 per cent increase over the previous year.
Mmari said if the recommended dividend were accepted by the bank’s shareholders it would be the first higher amount to be paid since the year 2009.
“We started with a dividend of Sh2 per share in the year 2009; this year we recommend it at Sh17, so this is a very big achievement for us since we joined the stock market,” he said.
For his part, the bank’s Managing Director, Dr Charles Kimei, said for the banking sector in particular, the operating environment was enhanced in 2015 by introduction of additional regulatory controls on asset portfolio management and increase in capital regulatory requirements.
Explaining about financial results, he said in the year 2015 the bank recorded a profit after tax of Sh129bn from Sh96bn recorded during the year 2014 , which is an increase of 35 percent.
The bank’s gross loans and advances to customers also increase by 30 percent from Sh2, 576bn in 2014 to Sh3, 342bn in 2015.
He said customer deposit increased to Sh4, 246bn in 2015 from Sh3, 391bn recorded in 2014 which is an increase of 25 percent.
However, he noted that major efforts were devoted to a reduction in non performing loans with the creation of Stressed Assets Management Unit with a responsibility to ensure that bank loans are effectively monitored and collected on timely basis.
Narrating on the bank’s microfinance services company, he said during the year it made a profit before tax of Sh8, 589m as compared with Sh6, 130m in 2014 which is an increase of 41 percent from previous year.
He said fees and commission income increased by 39 percent from Sh15, 853m in 2014 to Sh21, 940m in 2015.The increase was caused by a growth in insurance commission, interest income on term loans and non- interest income generated during the year.
He said total assets increased from Sh17, 532m to Sh24, 190m, the increase was mainly driven by the increase of amount due from parent company due to fees and commission generated.
Total deposit mobilized from partner Microfinance Institutions increased by 81 percent from Sh68bn to Sh123bn as at December 2015.
On Burundi operations, Dr Kimei said during the year 2014 the bank finally broke even in line with the business plans and strategy.
During the year the bank successfully recorded a profit of 472m/- while its total assets increased from Sh93,023m in 2014 to Sh109,823m in 2015
According to him, the profit in Burundi was made despite political challenges currently being experienced in the central African country.
“This is a good performance which should have come earlier,” Dr Kimei said, adding “I hope things will stabilise in the near future.” The MD also said “even the Burundi government has put a lot of trust on CRDB.
They are using our services, which is a good sign.” The Burundi profit assisted to amplify further CRDB Bank’s profit jump last year and cemented its position as the biggest bank in terms of balance sheet and branch network.
Commenting on the bank’s performance, a financial analyst Prof Mohamed Warsame,said this year the bank has recorded exceptional growth in the industry.
“The industry has been growing normal but CRDB bank has been performing above average level,” he insisted . However Prof Warsame said agent banking network has contributed much to the growth of banking sector in the country.
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