Africa-Press – Botswana. The bank has cited higher impairments and rising costs for a projected 20–30% drop in interim profit.
Absa Bank Botswana has issued a cautionary statement forecasting a significant drop in its interim profit for the half year ended June 2025.
In a trading update published on the Botswana Stock Exchange recently, the country’s second-largest lender by profitability said its profit before tax is expected to fall between 20 and 30 percent compared to the same period in 2024.
This translates into a projected range of P113 million to P167 million, a steep decline from P563 million reported in the first half of 2024.
Details deferred
According to the statement, the profit drop is largely attributed to an increase in impairment charges and rising operating costs. These pressures come after the bank recorded its best-ever financial performance in 2024 when it surpassed the P1 billion mark in pre-tax earnings.
“While our 2024 performance was historic, the current operating environment has introduced challenges that are impacting earnings,” Absa Botswana said in the statement.
The bank did not provide a detailed breakdown of the impairments or operational expenses as this is expected to be revealed in the full results.
Absa is expected to publish its full interim financial results on 16 September 2025. The announcement is likely to provide more clarity on the underlying drivers of the profit decline.
Banking sector resilient
Meanwhile, inspite of Absa’s projected slowdown, Botswana’s broader banking sector continues to post resilient results.
According to the latest data published by Bank of Botswana (BoB), the nine commercial banks in the country collectively reported a profit of P1.61 billion in the first five months of 2025 – slightly higher than the P1.59 billion achieved over the same period last year.
In 2024, the sector recorded its highest-ever annual profit of P4.1 billion, with strong gains in digital banking and tighter asset-liability management strategies helping drive performance.
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