Stanbic’s half year results show sustained profitability despite inflationary pressures

August 16, 2024 in Business, Companies, Finance by Editor

Karuhanga said with total assets of UGX9.7 trillion (abut $2.5 billion) and up by 3.8 pc from the previous year of UGX9.4 trillion, SUHL is in a much stronger position to support major development projects and further facilitate economic growth.

Stanbic Uganda Holdings Limited (SUHL) has announced its 2024 half year results, with its anchor subsidiary, Stanbic Bank Uganda Limited, contributing the bulk of its UGX236 billion (about $63 million) net profits compared to UGX200 billion recorded the previous half year.

Customer deposits during the six months to June 2024, were up by 4.9 pc to UGX 6.6 trillion while total loans amounted to UGX4.4 trillion a rise of 9.5 pc compared to the same period in 2023. SUHL is a part of the Standard Bank Group and trades in Uganda as Stanbic.

SUHL Chief Executive, Francis Karuhanga said, “The Bank subsidiary continues to be the anchor to our performance, as our beyond-bank subsidiaries gain momentum on their growth trajectory and augment our efforts to deliver on our purpose.”

The other SUHL subsidiaries are SBG Securities, Stanbic Properties Limited; Flyhub, a fintech company and the Stanbic Business Incubator Limited, which provides capacity building training for small business owners.

Karuhanga said despite an uptick in inflation during the first half of the year, which caused the Bank of Uganda to raise the base rate to 10.25 pc from 9.5 pc in December 2023, Stanbic Bank posted strong results on both the income statement and balance sheet. However private sector credit growth at 6.6% remained below the pre-Covid levels of above 10%. Earlier this week, BoU lowered the Central Bank Rate (CBR) to 10 pc.

Karuhanga said, “Our customer loan book grew by 9.5% representing over 21 pc  of market share while the off-balance sheet book grew by 17.5 pc to UGX2.2 trillion, representing a market share of over 40 pc. More importantly, we have been deliberately focused on supporting the growth of the SME segment of the economy, given that they generate 70 pc of manufacturing output and create 90 pc of new jobs.”

Between January and June this year, the bank disbursed UGX127 billion at below market interest rates at between 10 pc and 12.2 pc to Savings and Credit Cooperative Organizations (SACCOs). It also lent UGX100 billion also at a reduced interest rate of 15.5 pc to women-owned enterprises under the Stanbic4Her product range.

“Our total assets of UGX9.7 trillion (about $2.5 billion) are up 3.8 pc from the previous year of UGX9.4 trillion and as such, we are in a much stronger position to support major development projects and further facilitate economic growth,” Karuhanga said.

Referring to the bank’s efforts in driving financial inclusion through the FlexiPay mobile payments app, Karuhanga said, “FlexiPay now has over 900,000 clients and continues to scale in terms of number of transaction and volumes. In the fullness of time, FlexiPay will enable us to achieve our objective of driving financial inclusion in Uganda.”

During the period under review, there were over seven million FlexiPy transactions totaling UGX 14 trillion involving FlexiPay and Stanbic banking agents. Karuhanga said, “We are optimistic that the economy will continue to grow as individual and commercial borrowers take advantage of lowering interest rates, should the cuts in the CBR continue.”