AfricaPress-Tanzania: Three DCB Commercial Bank Plc shareholders pocketed 287m/- in dividends recently as the 16-year-old lender restarted the issuance of dividends.
The money is part of 500m/- dividends DCB Bank Plc had approved during its 18th annual general meeting (AGM) conducted virtually in June this year.
Dar es Salaam City Council (DCC) received 138m/- while UTT-Asset Management and Investor Services (UTT-Amis) and the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) received 119m/- and 30m/- respectively.
The 500m/- was part of the bank’s 2.038bn/- net profit for the year ending December last year.
Minister of State in the President’s Office (Regional Administration and Local Government) Selemani Jafo graced the event and presented dummy cheques to shareholders in Dar es Salaam at the weekend.
Speaking at the event, Mr Jafo commended DCB Commercial Bank Board and management for driving the lender profitably during the past years and for releasing returns on investments to shareholders.
“That this bank has registered tremendous achievements during the past years is quite commendable. It has been issuing dividends to shareholders for 10 years now and this signifies that the board and management have been working hard to live in accordance with reasons for which the bank was established, which is, to help small-scale traders meet their financing needs,” he said.
“The government,” he said, “is confident that the banking sector remains key to the attainment of Tanzania’s development goals.”
He commended the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) and Tanzania Bankers Association for candid advice as the country navigated well through various challenges, including the Covid-19 pandemic.
Commercial Bank Plc made a 995m/- profit in 2018, but its shareholders decided to utilise the money to consolidate the lender’s capital, according to the bank’s Managing Director, Mr Godfrey Ndalahwa.
He said at the event that his management was well focused in 2018, with a specific target to ensure the bank was back to its profitable times in one year.
The bank, he said, had strategised to consolidate itself across all parameters in two years and that after that, it would start extending its services in the third year.
“I am happy to report here today that we have in three years achieved a lot. We have been operating profitably. We have also raised capital through the sale of shares in 2019. We are now very strong in terms of capital. We have reduced the level of non-performing loans while liquidity has greatly improved, all courtesy of the advice that we have been receiving from BoT and other government agencies,” he said.
He said DCB Commercial Bank Plc has successfully turned from loss-making to a profit making entity during the past few years. DCB Commercial Bank Plc was established in 2004 as Dar es Salaam Community Bank.
In 2008, it became the first bank to be listed on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) and its names changed to DCB Commercial Bank Plc.
The bank, which was originally owned by Ilala, Temeke and Kinondoni municipal councils as well as the DCC became a public company after its initial public offering. It changed its name to DCB Commercial Bank Plc in 2012.
