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How bank assets jumped by Sh7 trillion in a year
An analysis of financial statements of commercial banks that have released their financial statements as of yesterday shows that over Sh1.164 trillion was garnered in net profits last year. PHOTO | COURTESY
Dar es Salaam. Banks operating in Tanzania grew their assets by Sh6.96 trillion last year, demonstrating resilience and adaptability in the changing economic landscape.
An analysis of 27 commercial banks shows that their total assets increased to Sh51.22 trillion in 2023 from Sh44.26 trillion recorded in 2022.
The analysed banks include CRDB Bank Plc, NMB Bank Plc, NBC Bank, Exim, Stanbic, Standard Chartered Bank Tanzania, Peoples Bank of Zanzibar (PBZ), DTB, KCB Bank Tanzania, Absa Tanzania, Tanzania Commercial Bank (TCB), Equity Bank and Citi. Others are Bank of Africa (BoA), I&M, NCBA, TIB, Ecobank, Baroda, Mkombozi, DCB, ACB, UBA, Bank of India, Maendeleo Bank, Access Bank and International Commercial Bank of Tanzania (ICB).
Ten banks experienced the highest growth in their asset portfolios led by the PBZ, which grew by 44.2 percent to Sh2.05 trillion in 2023 from Sh1.42 trillion in the previous year.
PBZ head of finance Anuar Saleh told The Citizen that the improved results in the previous year were contributed by the increase in loan book as a result of aggressiveness in increasing bank liquidity from deposits and bank network expansion and discipline in the implementation of the bank’s five-year rolling strategic plan.
“Improved bank asset quality resulted in reducing non-performing loans (NPLs) to 2.47 percent,” he said.
National Bank of Commerce (NBC) assets surged by 28 percent to Sh3.65 trillion, while those of KCB Bank Tanzania grew to Sh1.42 trillion in 2023 from Sh1.11 trillion previously.
Exim Bank grew by 25 percent to Sh3 trillion while I&M bank grew by 24.4 percent to Sh739.3 billion as Stanbic Bank grew by 21.9 percent to Sh2.61 trillion.
NCBA assets increased by 20.2 percent to Sh515.16 billion while Absa grew by 19.4 percent to Sh1.42 trillion.
NMB Bank’s assets grew by 18.87 percent to Sh12.16 trillion while that of CRDB Bank increased by 13.8 percent to Sh13.26 trillion. Maendeleo Bank grew by 16.81 percent to Sh124.4 billion from Sh106.52 billion.
The growth in assets is associated with an increase in loans, with banks extending over Sh30 trillion to their customers.
The top ten lenders last year were CRDB (Sh8.45 trillion), NMB (Sh7.7 trillion), NBC (Sh2.42 trillion), Exim Bank (Sh1.5 trillion), Stanbic (Sh1.39 trillion), PBZ (Sh1.04 trillion), DTB (Sh959.61 billion), TCB (Sh915.56 billion), KCB (Sh892.17 billion) and Absa (Sh761.69 billion).
Banks have also been improving their investments in government securities where the 27 lenders increased their investment by about 10 percent to Sh8.73 trillion in one year.
CRDB Bank chief financial officer Fredrick Nshekanabo highlighted the bank’s financial health, saying, “Our focus on maintaining a well-diversified and high-quality loan portfolio is evident in maintaining our NPLs that remained at 2.8 percent.”
He said the bank also managed to contain the cost-to-income ratio to 49.5 percent amid escalating operating costs occasioned by deteriorations in the global macroeconomic environment.
Last year, CRDB Bank extended its reach into new territories, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and ventured into the insurance sector with the establishment of CRDB Insurance Company.
NMB Bank chief executive Ruth Zaipuna attributed the bank’s wealth growth on account of growing deposit base and loan book which grew by 12 percent and 28 percent, respectively.
According to her, the efficiency gains made during the year came from the improvement of the cost-to-income ratio which reached 39 percent from 50 percent whereas better lending management led to the lowering NPLs to 3.2 percent from 3.5 percent.
“We are proud of our resounding performance and progress made in several strategic areas, including driving financial inclusion, advancing customer experience, and accelerating strategic investments in our people, governance, and technology to drive enhanced value creation,” Ms Zaipuna said.
NMB Bank chief finance officer Juma Kimori said the bank’s good numbers highlight the disciplined and commendable progress in executing the bank’s strategic plan, whose goals include partnering with the government and communities in spurring socio-economic development in the country.
ENDS…
