Sunday, February 16, 2025

Barclays anticipates lower interim results

Shareholders of Barclays Bank Botswana have been advised to exercise caution when dealing with the securities of the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) quoted bank.

The caution comes at a time when the bank also confirmed that its consolidated results for the period ended 30th June 2014 will be materially lower than those reported for the period ended 30th June 2013.

The bank’s Board of Directors warned shareholders and investors are to exercise caution when trading in the company’s securities until the results are announced.

The bank’s immediate past previous interim results have shown that its operating costs remained flat at P315 million while profit before tax decreased by 13 percent with the cost income ratio of 49 percent.

At the same time the bank’s capital adequacy was at 23 percent while total income decreased by 3 percent to P650 million.

A close look at the review of operating results of the interim financial statements for the period ended 30 June 2013 indicated that customer assets recorded a modest growth of 9 percent to P6.6 billion primarily driven by retail mortgages and group schemes, whist the growth in the liabilities book was driven by longer term institutional liabilities.

Financial analysts indicate that the 3 percent marginal decline in total income was reflective of the low interest rate regime in which we operate in. The pointed out that the underlying lending portfolio remained stable year on year with an increase in impairment of 23 percent in half year 2013 due to policy changes.

Managing Director Reinette De Merwe’s says that these changes are intended to realign the business model to group standards as the bank positions itself to enter new profitable sectors of the economy. The model enhancements are expected to enable the bank to be more predictive in the performance of the banks’ book.

Also, the bank previously admitted that the unimpressive financial results are a reflection of the challenging year which the bank embarked on the journey to transform and rebuild the business.

“One of our strategic priorities is therefore to diversify income streams. We remain focused on becoming the ‘Go-To’ bank in Botswana,” said the bank.

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