Maendeleo profit increases threefold in Q4

Florian Jamax

TANZANIA: MAENDELEO Bank’s net profit increased three times in last year’s fourth quarter, attributed to

a non-interest income raise.

The bank’s financial statement released recently displayed net profit soared to 776m/- in the three months to December last year from 258m/- in a comparative quarter in 2022.

The lender, with more than 124bn/- of assets, until last December, has a robust performance in profit attributed to the positive growth in non-interest income.

According to the report, non-interest income increased by 78 per cent to 916m/- from 514 m/- posted in 2022, with foreign currency dealings and fees and commissions being the drivers.

Foreign currency dealings and translation registered an 18m/- gain from the loss line of 2.0m/- posted in 2022 while fees and commissions increased by 39.2 per cent to 546m/- from 392m/-.

Despite the increase in non-interest income, the bank’s net interest income slightly went down in Q4.

The bank’s interest income, year-on-year decreased by 7.4 per cent to 2.65bn/- last year from 2.87bn/- despite the increase in the loan portfolio.

Until the end of last year, Maendeleo Bank managed to issue loans valued over 74bn/- from 70bn/- registered in Q3 ended in September last year.

Additionally, the lender’s customer deposits grew by 5.8 per cent to 83.4bn/- in Q4 from 78.8bn/-posted at the end Q3.

Non-performing loans (NPLs) significantly increased by 8.0 per cent to 3.76bn/- from 3.48bn/- posted last September.

The lender maintained the NPLs ratio until the end of December, standing at 5.0 per cent, matching with the Bank of Tanzania (BoT)’s threshold of 5.0 per cent.

Furthermore, the bank’s non-interest expenses have increased to 2.27bn/- from 2.01bn/- posted in a similar period of the previous year, pushed up by increased salaries and benefits.

According to the statement, salaries and benefits increased by 19.8 per cent to 997m/- from 832m/- posted in a similar period in 2022.

The increment is highly pushed by the increased number of staff to 119 until the end of December last year 114 in a similar period in a previous year.

Moreover, the bank’s number of branches increased to 30 from 10 recorded in 2022.