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FNB Namibia owners FirstRand Namibia Group earned better interim profits for the six months ending 31 December 2022, and is giving shareholders an additional dividend of N$1,86 per share.
This will be paid from its N$845 million profit – which returned a 27,8% on its equity, and an above-industry average of 3,3% return on its N$54,5 billion asset base.
Interim financial statements were released late last week and places the FirstRand Group as the best-performing banking-backed financial institution in the country.
All metrics show the group having done better, and for that, the company also declared a record interim N$2,07 dividend to be paid out on 21 April.
The total interim dividend will be N$3,96 per share, and will have its shareholders, including the Government Institutions Pension Fund which owns 15,7%, walking away with N$66 million of the N$423 million distribution.
The company said it was paying out the record dividend because it needs to rebalance its capital weight.
“The board declared a special dividend of 186,85 cents per share to align the surplus capital position with the long-term strategy of sustainable balance sheet growth and building a globally competitive Namibia,” reads the commentary.
This means the group fears if it keeps a bloated capital base, it may not yield returns on that capital.
Return on assets for the group was at 3,3%, compared to the industry average of 1,9%.
The group controls close to a third of banking operations in the country.
Its closest competition is Capricorn Group Limited, the owners of Bank Windhoek, which is trailing behind on the majority of metrics.
The FirstRand Namibia Group grew its loan book by 7% to N$35 billion, pushing into the local economy about N$6,6 billion, beating the average credit extension of 4,5%, year on year.
This loan book has 5,3% bad apples, below the 5,7% industry average non-performing loans ratio.
Impairments have fallen below N$100 million for the interim accounts, sitting at N$89 million.
FirstRand is the only listed company in Namibia that has reported an after-tax profit having shot up by 36% – and has cited “quality of its operating businesses” as a reason for better profits.
According to the directors’ commentary, FirstRand Namibia’s earnings remain tilted towards its banking activity and are mainly generated by its large lending and transactional franchises, which have deep and loyal customer bases.
The group also has a multibillion-dollar investment in government bonds and treasury bills.
This has earned the group an economic profit of N$396 million.
On operations, revenue grew by 21% with net interest income increasing 26% to N$1,3 billion from N$1 billion.
Interest earned on advances grew with 33%, whereas interest on investments also increased by 28%.
Deposits grew by 11% to N$39 billion from N$35 billion in 2021, and these deposit holders earned N$551 million (2021: N$329 million) in interest across all deposit accounts for the period.
Quality lending could be considered as FirstRand’s edge, because when the economy recovers, not many of the performing loans will fall in the red.
The group has, however, indicated it expects an increased credit loss ratio – especially given rising policy rates and inflationary pressures.
Non-interest income also performed reasonably well, increasing by 12% to N$1,1 billion.
Net fee and commission income grew 10% to N$981 million, representing 88% of total non-interest income.
FirstRand says the net fee and commission income increase is primarily the result of an increase in volumes, while the average price increase was only 4,7% – well below the inflation average of 6,9%.
On expenses, the group achieved a cost-to-income ratio of 46% from over 51% in 2021.
Total assets at the end of the six months was at N$54,5 billion, about N$3 billion less from the Capricorn Group’s record asset base of N$57 billion.
Interestingly, the group has recorded a N$10 billion increase in assets – mainly the balance owed to other banks, and technically, real assets should still be below N$50 billion.
For the remainder of the financial year, the group said it expects healthy revenue growth, with net-interest income growing with double digits.
FirstRand’s share prices started the week off at N$35,57 per share, and 24 March has been set as the last day to trade for shareholders to participate in the dividend.
The group is currently looking for a new chief financial officer following Oscar Capelao’s departure to the Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprises.
– email: [email protected]; Twitter: @Lasarus_A
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