Stanbic maintains top position

Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe has been selected as the second Best Bank in Zimbabwe for Financial Year 2016 in the Top Companies survey which is aimed at promoting best practices among local companies in the country.

Stanbic was previously awarded Best Bank for two years in a row.

The survey, sponsored by leading diversified financial services giant Old Mutual, is in its fourth consecutive year and seeks to recognise top performing companies on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) and others within the banking and insurance sectors.

A panel of reputable financial services gurus sieved through qualitative and quantitative attributes of Zimbabwe’s leading banks leading to this reward for Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe for showing consistency despite the challenging operating environment.

At the core of the survey is the quest to promote good corporate governance practices, ethical conduct and corporate social responsibility (CSR).

The bank’s CSR focuses mainly on Health and Sanitation, Sports Development, Education and Nature Conservation.

The judges noted with appreciation that Stanbic Bank was very active in the local community, a key attribute that has led to the bank’s continued success in Zimbabwe.

The bank had a strong 2016 financial year, overcoming the skewed operating environment to post profit after tax of $21,2 million, albeit a marginal decline from $23,9 million in 2015.

The decline was attributed to a larger than prior year impairment provision for non-performing loans of $8,3 million in 2016 as compared to $6,8 million in the prior comparable period.

This translated to a decline in return on capital and return on total assets from 25,7 percent and 5,9 percent respectively, in 2015 to 18,34 percent and 4,355 respectively in 2016.

The judges noted that despite the marginal decline, Stanbic’s level of profitability ranks high in comparison to other financial services institution and this was deemed “a notable achievement”.

Stanbic Bank’s winning qualities were underpinned not only on its strong financial performance but also anchored on its core values of serving its customers, growing its people, delivering to its shareholders, being proactive, working in teams, respecting each other, upholding the highest levels of integrity and consistently raising the bar.

“Stanbic’ Tier 1 capital increased from $80,2 million in 2015 to $101,8 million in 2016, while its overall regulatory capital base increased from $93 million in 2015 to $115 million in 2016. The bank has therefore achieved the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)’s minimum regulatory capital level of $100 million which has a deadline of the year 2020,” noted the judges.

“Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe remains a solid bank in Zimbabwe and we believe it has a great future ahead. From our assessment, Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe is a truly worthy First Runner-Up of this year’s Top Companies Banking Sector award,” said one of the analysts. Daily News