Africa-Press – Malawi. Ecobank Malawi has posted a 15 percent increase in its profit before tax to K12 billion for the year ended December 31 2021, a published financial statement has shown.
According to the bank’s published summary of audited financial statements co-signed by the bank’s board chair Symon Msefula and managing director Raymond Fordwuo, operating income grew by 50 percent, year-on-year, to K29.8 billion arising from both funded and non-funded income sources.
Although operating costs increased by 25 percent to K11.3 billion mainly due to increase in volume of business during the year. The bank says it maintained a positive jaw between revenue and operating expenses growth resulting in an improved cost-to-income ratio of 38 percent down from 45 percent as of 2020.
Impairment losses on loans and other assets increased in the year as economic activities slowed down due to the Covid pandemic, which impacted some of the bank’s key customers’ ability to service their facilities, according to the statement.
The bank’s balance sheet size increased by 33 percent to K348.9 billion, principally anchored by deposits from customers which grew by 47 percent to K206 billion.
The loan book, on the other side, decreased by 9 percent to K34.5 billion due to reduced utilisation of facilities by the bank’s major customers as a result of the impact of Covid on their business operations and a conservative approach taken by the bank to minimise the credit risk occasioned by subdued economic activities.
“The sustained growth underscores the resilience of the bank arising from our leadership position in trade finance, strategic investments in the digitisation of our products and services, operational efficiency, and excellence in delivery of customer-centric services,” the statement reads.
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