Stanbic flags strong profit recovery
Lewanika Timothy | Wednesday September 9, 2026 06:00
In a cautionary announcement issued on the bourse, the bank said profit before tax for the six months ended June is expected to increase by between 10% and 20%, representing a rise of between P41 million and P83 million from the corresponding period last year.
Stanbic reported profit before tax of P413 million for the first half of 2025. Its latest guidance therefore puts its six-month pretax profit at between P454 million and P496 million.
The expected improvement comes as the banking industry emerges from one of its toughest recent periods.
In 2025, commercial banks’ collective profits broke a four-year streak of growth, declining by about nine percent to P3.79 billion, as they were impacted by broader economic pressures that saw their provisions for bad debts rise fourfold.
The country’s commercial banks are amongst the economy’s most consistently profitable sectors, defying periods of downtrends and weaknesses over the years. Bank of Botswana figures indicate that whilst the banks largely skated through the three percent contraction in 2024, the continued weakness in the economy in 2025 began to knock on profitability.
Much of the trouble was around banks’ margins, with a liquidity crunch stretching back to 2024 raising their costs of deposits, whilst the room for them to increase lending rates was limited initially by demand and then by the Bank of Botswana, which placed a moratorium on rate increases.
The pressure was compounded by weakening credit demand and deteriorating asset quality, forcing banks to increase provisions against potential loan losses as economic conditions weighed on households and businesses.
However, the earnings outlook has improved in 2026, with Stanbic joining First National Bank Botswana and Absa Bank Botswana in signalling stronger profitability.
The recovery is significant for an industry that has historically remained one of Botswana’s most profitable sectors, even through periods of economic weakness. It also suggests that some of the margin and credit pressures that weighed on banks in 2025 may be easing.