GAINS: Stanbic Bank Registers Ugx242b Profits In 2020 Despite Covid 19 Pandemic

By Our Reporter

KAMPALA-SHIFTMEDIA- Stanbic Uganda Holdings Limited (SUHL) has registered a profit of UGx242 billion after tax in its just published 2020 full-year results.

Stanbic Uganda Holdings Limited (SUHL) is a subsidiary of Stanbic Bank Uganda Limited.

Andrew Mashanda, the Chief Executive of Stanbic Uganda Holdings Ltd said though 2020 was quite a challenging year given the impact of the pandemic across the globe, Stanbic Uganda Holdings has demonstrated resilience and delivered a commendable performance.

 

• Loans and advances grew by 27% from UGX 2.8 trillion (2019) to UGX 3.6 trillion (2020).
• Customer deposits increased by 16% from UGX 4.7 trillion (2019) to UGX 5.4 trillion (2020).
• Profit After Tax was UGX 242 Billion (2020) down from UGX 259 Billion (2019) largely due to the impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on client business.
• Invested UGX 3.9 billion (2020) in Corporate Social Investments for communities, a 70% increase from UGX 2.3 billion (2019).

 

According to the report, customer deposits grow year on year from UGX 4.7 trillion to UGX 5.4 trillion, which further supported new credit to key sectors in much need of support especially during the peak of the pandemic. Loans and advances increased by 27% year on year from UGX 2.8 trillion to UGX 3.6 trillion as more clients acquired loans to sustain their businesses.

In addition to the performance updates, Mr. Mashanda provided a progress update on the holding company’s key initiatives and achievements in 2020.

“In 2018, given the emergence of non-traditional competitors in financial services, a strategic decision was taken to diversify revenue streams from the banking business, essentially creating new pools of revenue for the franchise and this led to the creation of Stanbic Uganda Holdings Limited,” said Mashanda.

He noted that the holding company is strategically positioned to build and leverage on the strength of the banking brand and transport this to other opportunities in other ecosystems that are beyond banking.

 

“This is the first phase of our strategy of transforming the franchise here in Uganda into the leading digital platform services organization, which is now well on course,” Mr Mashanda said.

“The anchor subsidiary is Stanbic Bank Uganda Limited. We have now established Stanbic Properties Uganda Limited, a real estate business, Stanbic Business Incubator Limited, FlyHub Uganda Limited, a technology business that is the bedrock of our digital platform services organisation, and SBG Securities Limited, which is a stockbroking and asset management business,” he pointed out.

 

Looking Ahead

Mashanda said SUHL is appropriately positioned to enhance its value offerings, meet the needs of clients and increase value for stakeholders.

Speaking at the press conference, Anne Juuko, the Chief Executive for Stanbic Bank Uganda said, “It was an incredibly difficult year for the entire economy, but Stanbic has shown that it remains a strong and well capitalised bank committed to contributing to economic growth and transformation.”

To complement government measures to offer relief to customers amidst the pandemic, Stanbic Bank consistently lowered the prime lending rate in tandem with the Central Bank Rate (CBR), from 18% to 16%. This saved customer’s interest payments totalling UGX 26 billion.

“Our aim is to ensure our customers can benefit from more affordable lending rates.  We also offered credit relief programmes to our customers in response Covid–19 challenges with over UGX 800 billion worth of loans were restructured in 2020,” Juuko said,

In reference to the Bank’s responsibility to the communities in which it operates, Juuko said, “We increased our support to the community and invested over UGX 3.9 billion through our CSI programmes.  We made donations to frontline health works in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, contributed food and supplies to local communities where we operate and continued to provide support in the areas of education, environment and maternal health.”

She said Uganda’s Oil and Gas sector is set to achieve the Final Investment Decision soon, due to Stanbic’s instrumental role in the development of the sector.

“The emergence of oil and gas will create vast opportunities for the local economy and our role as a Bank is to provide financial solutions to clients across the entire value chain especially for local companies looking to participate in the sector.”

Juuko reiterated Stanbic’s commitment towards this purpose “Uganda is our home and we drive her growth” by contributing to economic growth and transformation.  We shall continue to deliver the right solutions for our clients, as we conduct our business in a responsible and sustainable manner to deliver shared prosperity for all our stakeholders,’ she said.