CRDB Bank share are rallying since the start of the year to reach a 13-month high yesterday backed by the lender outstanding performance throughout last year.
The share of one of the largest bank in the land, opened the year at 95/- but closed on Monday at 150/- almost 58 per cent appreciation in the first six weeks of the year.
The last time the share traded 150/- was early last January.
Stock analysts have it that they expecting the rally to persist at least till the exdividend around May and thereafter market and bank performance factors will determine its positions.
Orbit Securities’ Head of Research and Analytics Imani Muhingo said appreciation of CRDB was expected since last year due to outstanding performance reported by the bank throughout the year.
“After a long due of market undervaluation of the bank, the market finally caught up to the bank’s fundamentals in January this year…,” Mr Muhingo told the ‘Daily News’ over the weekend.
Mr Muhingo said the bullish trend “fuelled by prospects of a handsome dividend payout cemented by the bank’s annual results which reported 87 per cent growth in profits”.
The bank, with a subsidiary in Burundi, registered 87 per cent Year on Year (YoY) growth in profit to 120bn/- compared to 64bn/- posted in 2018.
The Group CEO and Managing Director, Abdulmajid Nsekela said the growth was fuelled by a sound strategy that transformed the business and unlocked the bank’s potential of growth.
“We have changed the way we do business by investing more in efficient processes, improving productivity and inculcating a high-performance culture,” Mr Nsekela said.
The lender’s net Interest income grew 19 per cent to 526bn/-, driven by retail loans, investment in government securities and reduced funding costs. Non-Interest Income grew by 15 per cent to 253bn/-.
During the year, customer deposits grew by 11per cent YoY to 5.2tri/-, fuelled by a mix of business initiatives such as enhancement of the digital banking offering and the launch of new products targeting new segments in the market.
Nevertheless, Orbit’s Muhingo said; ‘We expect the rally to persist at least till the ex-dividends around May”, and from then the price movement shall be determined by quarterly reports by the bank.
Zan Securities said the surging of CRDB share since the start of this year was mainly driven by positive financial performance, which “resulted from leadership change.” “We expect the bank to continue performing well throughout the year,” Zan said in a statement to the Daily News.
Tanzania Securities said the lender’s share was traded below initial public offer (IPO) for some time and last year performance drive back the equity to discover its price base.
“Share price surging is driving investors’ expectation of handsome dividend payout…. The share is now on recovery to true price level,” Tanzania Securities said.
The last year financial performance improved profitability level to register a 2.8 per cent Return on Assets (RoA) and 14.7 per cent Returns on Equity (RoE).
Two Bloomberg analysts recommended ‘buy’ for CRDB stock at between 155/- and 220/-.
The Egyptian Financial Group-Hermes Holding Analyst Muammar Kassim Ismaily recommended buy for 220/- while Kenya’s Exotix Capital Faith Mwangi also recommended buy for 155/-.
