Malawi: NBS Bank Projects 140 Percent Profit Jump After Tax

Malawi Stock Exchange (MSE) Listed NBS Bank says it expects a 140% profit jump after tax for the year ended 31 December 2022 compared to the same period last year.

Earlier, the bank, popularly known as ‘the Red Brigade” had projected a 110% profit after tax for the review period.

But in a revised trading statement signed by the Bank’s Company Secretary Marsha Ovi Machika, said the change in the expected profits is due to recoveries through courts whose conditions for recognizing the proceeds of the claims were met after the first publication of the trading statement was already published.

“The information in which this revised statement is made has not been reviewed or reported by the company’s external auditors,” reads the statement in part.

The statement also said a review of credit impairments on significant credit exposures has been made which has changed the results favourably.

In the year ended 31 December 2021, the bank recorded a profit after tax jump of 9% amounting to K7.69 billion up from K7.05 billion the previous year and NBS attributed this to ‘institutional growth’.

The bank’s half year profit after tax period ending 30 June 2022 jumped 16% to K5.1 billion from the previous year’s K4.4 billion amid a tough operating environment.

The Bank said at the time that it was going to continue to maintain a robust capital and liquidity position saying that it was well positioned to pursue opportunities for growth amid a projected challenging second half of 2022.

NBS Bank has now embarked on a new five-year strategy (2022-2026) to increase market share and enhance efficiency.