FNBB expects profit surge
Mbongeni Mguni | Tuesday August 22, 2023 06:00
In a notice to the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) on Friday, the bank said its pretax profits for the year ended June 30 are expected to be between 15% and 20% higher, or P180 million to P250 million above the P1.2 billion recorded last year.
“The full details will be provided to shareholders at the announcement of the financial results for the period ended June 2023, due to be released on September 13, 2023,” directors said. No details were provided for the expected increase in pretax profits.
However, FNBB’s interim results, covering the six months to December 2022, showed a 19% increase in pretax profits powered by healthy loan book growth, lower non-performing loans and optimisation of investment securities.
The bank also continued to benefit from its heavy investment in digital banking, with non-interest income up five percent for the period to P757.3 million. Analysts at Kgori Capital this week said BSE counters were expected to display strong earnings growth in the upcoming reporting period. “Our bottom-up earning growth estimates suggest record earnings this year, underpinned by banking, tourism and property sectors,” the analysts said.
For the banks, much of the optimism is linked to the economy’s recovery from the pandemic, lower funding costs due to declining inflation and warming appetites for credit, particularly among households. According to the latest Bank of Botswana figures, household credit growth in May was approximately 10%, compared to 5.3% in May 2022.