Dar es Salaam. If you thought that last year’s record net profit of Sh206 billion would see NMB Bank Plc resting on its laurels, then you are far off the mark.
Guided by its ‘No Limits’ slogan, the lender is up to an even bigger profit in 2021.
“We have good strategies in place to perform even better - and the first quarter of 2021 has been very promising,” the bank’s chief executive officer, Ms Ruth Zaipuna, told journalists on the sidelines of the bank’s 21st Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Dar es Salaam at the weekend.
During the first quarter of 2021, the lender’s net profit rose to Sh65.4 billion, up from Sh50 billion during a comparative quarter last year, fuelled primarily by continued growths in both funded and non-funded income steams, disciplined cost-optimisation and enhanced loan portfolio management.
The bank’s chief finance officer, Mr Juma Kimori said last year, the lender’s profit was 43 percent of what the entire sector went home with in returns.
“We set the benchmark. Our target for the year 2020 was Sh138 billion, but we surpassed it to register a record Sh206 billion. The management is keen on meeting and surpassing the target this year,” he said. With the Sh206 billion in net profit for last year, the AGM approved a hefty dividend payout of Sh137 per share at the weekend.
This translates into a total dividend of Sh68.5 billion that shareholders will go home with this year.
“The Sh68.5 billion dividend payout is 43 percent more than the Sh48 billion that was paid out during the year ending 31 December 2019…
“This marks the third consecutive annual increase in the company’s dividend,” said Ms Zaipuna.
Last year’s Sh48 billion translated into a dividend per share of Sh96. In 2019, the lender registered a net profit of Sh142 billion. In 2018, the dividend payout was Sh33 billion or Sh66 per share after it netted a profit of Sh98 billion.
The 2020 dividends will be paid mid this month, with the bank’s two major shareholders pocketing about Sh45.7 billion of the total payout. Strategic investor Arise whose stake in the business is 34.9 percent will get Sh23.9 billion and the government’s 31.8 per cent share ownership assures it nearly Sh21.8 billion.
The NMB Board Chairman, Dr Edwin Mhede, said the approved dividend payout reflects consistent delivery of strong returns to shareholders and value-creation to all stakeholders as the bank continues to transform lives and contribute meaningfully to national building efforts.
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