SBN HOLDINGS LIMITED Annual Report 2022
20
20
OUR PERFORMANCE
Chief
executive's
review
Profit for the year
↑N$624
million
2021: N$366 million
Net interest margin
↑4.4%
2021: 3.9%
Progress
Last year, I referred to resilience as the capacity of any entity
to prepare for disruptions, to recover from shocks and stresses,
and adapt and grow through disruptive experience. In 2022, we
are in fact, realising the resilience dividend following the credible
performance. We embarked on the delivery of our strategic
priorities during the year with optimism and encouragement,
to build on our sound management and governance frameworks
with the aim of restoring our performance to pre-pandemic
levels, which was indeed a stretched aspiration for the team.
I am proud of the progress that we have made, as evidenced
by the successful delivery of key projects, that will enable us
to deliver automation, stability, security and ultimately improved
customer experience. One of our most significant achievements
is the successful upgrade and migration of our core banking
platform. This involved client data migration, and enables us to
build a future-ready platform business which delivers value for
our clients through an expanded range of innovative onboarding,
client servicing and lending solutions. It is against this
background that we developed and launched our
Salesforce Disruptor award-winning Blu-Market platform, a
digital marketplace that will unlock trade opportunities for our
clients. Our PayPulse wallet platform, which is designed in
partnership with MobiPay primarily supporting financial
inclusion, has been further improved. We delivered enhanced
security features on PayPulse with biometric onboarding, we
delivered the wallet to bank account payment functionality and,
enabled our clients to subscribe for a funeral plan and a group
savings scheme on the platform. Through our remittance
partners, the transactional values on the platform have grown
20.8% and revenue increased by 17% year on year while our
active customer base has increased by a remarkable 98.3%.
Credit loss ratio
↓0.60%
2021 1.09%
Mercia Geises Chief executive
We received the Best Investment Bank award from EMEA,
the Global Banking and Finance Awards as well as the World
Economic Magazine awards. In Corporate and Investment
Banking (CIB) we focused on servicing our key ecosystems. We
have achieved resounding successes as evidenced by the growth
in loans and advances in this segment by 35.5% and profit for the
year have grown by 79.5%, which ultimately turned CIB into the
biggest contributor to headline earnings for the group in 2022.
The group had another first - raising N$400 million of funding
in the debt capital markets through a green bond issuance. The
proceeds will be used to finance - and refinance - eligible
renewable energy projects in Namibia in accordance with the
Standard Bank Group (SBG) Sustainable Bond Framework,
aligning with the SBG SEE impact areas of infrastructure, climate
change and sustainable finance and with the UN Sustainable
Development Goals (SDG) 7, 11 and 13. The SDGs where we have
the most meaningful impact are on page 5. Funding has been
used to finance the first corporate green loan in a qualifying deal
- a solar power plant that will be operational under the modified
single-buyer model.
We also received the EMEA accolade of Best Bank in 2022 as we
delivered new capabilities and a personalised value proposition
in our Consumer and High Net Worth (CHNW) business.
We proceeded with caution on growth in loans and advances
in this segment given the increasing interest rate and elevated
inflation environment.
With our Business and Commercial Banking (BCB) segment, the
key priority was to reduce our non-performing loan ratio and to
turn the business performance around following a five-year
loss-making history. As announced to the market, we obtained all
regulatory approvals and successfully completed the acquisition
of a property portfolio which was non-performing with the aim
to dispose of the assets.
Overall, we improved our collections
strategy and have reduced our credit
impairment charges by 44.2%, improving
our credit loss ratio (CLR) from 1.09 to
0.60 year on year. The improvement is
attributable to the realisation of our key
strategic initiatives as encompassed in
our non-performing loans (NPL) reduction.
strategy, the implementation of which we
commenced in 2021, and the
improvement in after-write-off recoveries.
We are an engaged corporate citizen
and have contributed significantly in
improving the lives of Namibians through
our flagship Buy-A-Brick initiative which
enabled us to build 51 houses in the year
under review, in partnership with the
Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia.
This brings the total houses built to date
to 731 houses. Our collaboration with the
Motor Vehicle Accident Fund enabled us
to refurbish and upgrade the biggest
casualty ward in the country at the
Katutura State Hospital. We focused our
corporate social investment strategy on
youth development programmes in
hockey, soccer, rugby and go-carting.
Noteworthy is the partnership we have
with Brighter Day, aimed at addressing
post-Covid implications in schools by
engaging students and teachers alike in a
timely manner in communities still feeling
the devastating impact of Covid-19. We
are pleased to have supported the Never
Walk Alone project with the delivery of
1275 pairs of shoes to barefooted children
in the Kunene Region.
I am delighted with the progress that we
have made, increasing profit for the year
by 70.5%. I believe that this is testament
to our sound governance, prudent yet
bold management, a resilient business
that is well positioned for growth and
supported by a strong balance sheet.
I wish to thank my colleagues for the
passion, discipline and resilience they
have shown to enable us to deliver a
strong set of results. I also want to thank
our clients for their continued support
and for putting their trust in us.
SBN HOLDINGS LIMITED
Annual report 2022
21
21View entire presentation