Africa-Press – Namibia. BANK BIC is the only bank in Namibia that has never made a profit since operation started and for 2021, that loss was at N$147 733 per day, its recently released financial statements show.
The bank has never made a profit since banking operations started in 2015, and now has a N$218 million loss, which has accumulated since.
The trail of losses started in 2015, with a N$6 million loss, which grew to a N$23 million loss in 2017. In 2018, the loss skipped further up to N$26 million, and up again in 2019 to N$45 million.
Compared to previous years, 2021’s loss is the biggest to date at N$53,9 million.
This loss is twice more than what the bank earns in typical interest revenue which stood at N$19 million and also more than the income from all operations which stood at N$23,5 million – also twice less than the loss the company has made.
Despite these massive losses, the four directors of the bank, three of which are Portuguese nationals, say the company will continue to operate as a going concern.
Namibian Lindsay Crawford is the bank’s chief executive officer.
Despite the losses, the bank conitinues to receive cash injections from shareholders, and in 2021 it had received N$121 million.
This was not the first bailout of the bank.
In 2018 the bank received a N$82,4 million cash injection from a sister bank in the loosely regulated island of Cape Verde.
These cash injections have boosted the bank, which has grown its loan book and balance sheet, despite the losses.
Released financial statements show that at the end of 2021, the bank boasted a N$488 million balance sheet, while the loan book grew to N$244 million from N$193 million recorded in 2020.
This growth matches deposits received over the period, which were in the region of N$70 million, compared to N$74 million recorded in 2020 and N$144 million in 2021.
Cash at the bank at the end of the financial year stood at N$129 million, supported by a healthy inflow of N$69 million received from the bank’s depositors, and N$46 million from other financial institutions.
At the moment, Bank BIC operates five branches in Namibia – two in Windhoek, and one each at Rundu, Walvis Bay and Ongwediva.
In the statements’ commentary, the bank’s director says over the 2021 financial year, the bank has complied with all regulatory capital and liquidity requirements, and its capital and liquid asset surpluses continue to protect it against any uncertainty.
The bank has limited liabilities other than deposits at only N$12 million.
The bank is audited by Grand Namibia, and last year, the auditors highlighted that the bank was not compliant with some of the central bank’s regulations around directors attending meetings in 2020.
The full 2021 financial statements are still not available on the company’s website, however, abridged statements were published in the local media.
Isabel dos Santos, daughter of former Angolan president, José Eduardo dos Santos, indirectly owns majority shareholding in the bank. She was once crowned richest woman in Africa.
Efforts to reach the bank’s chief executive yesterday for comment on whether the bank would ever make a profit in the near future as well as why it continues to run losses proved futile at the time of going to print.
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