Mozambique: CTA urges the State to settle outstanding invoices - around $400M worth
Banco Único reported a “historic” profit of around 440 million meticais (EUR 6.2 million) in 2016, according to a report released on Friday by the country’s fifth largest bank.
“We have achieved a historic and meaningful milestone, with a net result of more than 440 million meticais, which is 3.7 times greater than that of 2015,” Chairman of the Board of Directors Abdul Magid Osman’s message in the weekly Savana, reads.
“Banco Único is increasingly a benchmark in the market and is now Mozambique’s fifth largest bank,” he adds.
The bank announced record growth in a year in which Mozambique’s GDP grew by 3.3 percent. But in 2015 it was 6.6 percent, according to the report.
2016 was a turbulent year for Mozambique because of the hidden state debts, the consequent withdrawal of the IMF and donor support, the financial crisis and political and military instability, the Banco Único report says. But, management says, there were signs of “trust”.
South African Nedbank, which previously had a 38.3 percent stake in Banco Único, took control of the institution with 50 percent plus one share of the capital, equivalent to EUR 1.3 billion.
Gevisar SGPS, a partnership between Portugal’s Visabeira and Corticeira Amorim, which previously held a 38.3 percent share, reduced its stake to 30.2 percent, with subscribed capital now standing at 798 million meticais (EUR 11.3 million).
The 2016 results ensured shareholders “a return on their investment with return on equity of 20.6 percent”, compared with 8.5 percent in 2015, Osman adds.
Banco Único reported a reduction in solvency capacity from 16.4 percent to 15.5 percent, above the 8 percent currently demanded by the Mozambican authorities and above the 12 percent that the Bank of Mozambique will demand within the next three years.
The current year is again expected to be “a year of expansion and sustained growth”, despite a “very difficult macroeconomic environment”, the Banco Único chairman says. By the end of 2016, the institution had 20 branches and 513 employees.
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