BY KABELO SEITSHIRO
After refreshing its core technology infrastructure, BancABC Botswana says it now has a platform to better serve its existing customer base.
Managing Director – Kgotso Bannalotlhe said the BSEL quoted banker took the opportunity to invest in new systems hence the modest growth registered in operating expenses during 2018.
Bannalotlhe also confirmed that the bank has moved its core banking system into new infrastructure thus addressing a whole host of issues related to system downtime.
BancABC’s overall strategy has been broken down into yearly phases, with 2018 dedicated to the fix, retain and transform phase of the bank’s growth strategy.
In an interview, Bannalotlhe said there need to widen the bank’s customer segments both on the retail asset side and on the liability side of the balance sheet from largely workplace lending arrangements with government Employee unions.
The bank’s latest financials shows significant customer deposit growth in the last quarter of the year which resulted in the bank reaching another significant milestone with customer deposits and balance sheet size surpassing P7 billion and P 9 billion respectively for the first time. On the other hand, the customer deposit balance at P7.2 billion was 19 percent above prior year.
Operationally for the year ended 31 December 2018, the bank made a net Profit After Tax (PAT) of P128 million which was 8 percent below prior year at P139.2 million. Customer deposits closed the year at P7.2 billion which was 19 percent above prior year resulting in a healthy Loan to Deposit ratio (LDR) and Liquid asset ratio (LAR) of 81percent and 19 percent respectively.
The bank’s operating expenses at P404 million have increased by 8 percent when compared to prior year reflecting inflationary increases, capacity building and investments in infrastructure. The increase in operating expenses of P30 million from prior year is said to be result of an increase in staff costs (P18 million), IT (P4 million) and depreciation (P4 million).
