SBN HOLDINGS LIMITED Annual Report 2022
18
OUR PERFORMANCE
SBN HOLDINGS LIMITED
Annual report 2022
Chairman's
report
Final dividend
per share
46 cents
2021 15 cents
Total capital
adequacy ratio
↑17.7%
2021: 14.7%
ROE
↑13.7%
2021: 8.6%
Herbert Maier Chairman
"In 2022, our purpose 'Namibia is our home, we drive her growth' formed
the foundation of the work we did to transform client experience and deliver
results that are reflective of sound management and governance of the group's
operations. We are therefore well-positioned, as Namibia emerges to new
opportunities, to grow sustainable value for shareholders, customers and
other stakeholders"
Operating environment
In 2022, the global economy experienced another fundamental
shift. The optimism felt at the start of the year had focused on a
faster than anticipated economic recovery, particularly as the
Covid-19 pandemic began to generally subside in most parts of
the world. Yet, as the year progressed, complex challenges arose
in the global operating context. In response to the Ukraine
invasion the West instituted sanctions against Russia, driving
up commodity prices. The geopolitical tension between China
and the United States continue to disrupt global supply chains.
Other factors such as rising inflation and interest rates, China's
zero Covid policy and slower growth all compounded to
significantly impact the growth outlook. Despite this, Namibia's
economic recovery continued in 2022 with GDP growth
forecasted at 4.2%.
Delivering our strategic objectives
Our focus for 2022 remained on transforming client experience
by developing bank specific capabilities that enhance our
processes and drive efficiency while also improving service
delivery to customers. We developed and then successfully
delivered relevant and bespoke digital products and solutions to
meet the needs of customers and employees, supported by
leveraging the group's key strategic partnerships.
It is therefore a privilege to present our financial results showing
a growth in profit for the year of 70.5%, and an increase in ROE
from 8.6% to 13.7%, albeit still below our aspired target of 15%.
As a board we are pleased by these improved results due to the
focus and dedicated efforts made by the group's people. We
remain confident that the group is well positioned to take
advantage of the current and future opportunities the country
holds. Increased investment in green energy and renewables, as
well as the discovery of oil will continue to drive economic growth
and thereby create value for society.
We continue to invest in our people and support their wellbeing
to ensure that they can embrace the rapid changes in our
environment. We are equipping them with the skills to make
extensive use of the new technology, digital capabilities and data
that we need, to deliver our purpose.
Sustainability over the long term is central to our strategy and
our ability to deliver inclusive and sustainable growth. We
continue to make a meaningful difference in our communities,
ensuring that our social, economic and environment (SEE) as
well as our corporate social investment (CSI) efforts contribute
to the improvement and upliftment of the socioeconomic
circumstances of the communities in which we operate.
Changes to the board
During the year, Mr Alpheus Mangale and the chief financial
officer, Mrs Letitea du Plessis, resigned from the board and
Mr Jerry Muadinohamba retired. We thank them for their
contribution to the group.
There will be more changes in the composition of the board
during 2023. Ms Natasha Bassingthwaighte, Mrs Birgit Rossouw
as well as myself, as chairman, will be retiring from the board
after serving on the SBN board for more than 10 years. This is in
line with the group's board succession plan for directors.
Mrs Maria Dax has reached the age of 70 years and, as
prescribed by BID-1 which became effective during December
2022, she will also retire from the board at the 2023 AGM.
We are honoured to be joined by Ms Silke Hornung, Ms Suné
Brugman and Nangosora Ashley Tjipitua. We welcome them as
directors on the board.
Looking ahead
A gloomier outlook is now expected during the coming year, with
the world's economic growth expected to slow to 1.7% in 2023,
down from 2.9% in 2022 according to the World Bank's latest
reports. Challenges are expected to remain as geopolitical
tension, climate events, global supply chain disruptions and
higher food and oil prices will continue to drive volatility and
growing socioeconomic challenges, due to the increased
cost-of-living and higher household debt.
Namibia's economic growth over the medium term is expected
to be higher than the pre-pandemic growth levels, however,
given the current global environment, this will be slightly slower
than initially anticipated. The International Monetary Fund (IMF)¹
forecasts Namibia's GDP to grow 3.0% for 2022 and 3.2%
for 2023.
We remain optimistic about the reforms ahead that are likely
to come to fruition towards the end of the mid-term expenditure
framework. Large structural investments in both the green
and blue economy, as well as the discovery of offshore oil, place
Namibia in an excellent position to become an energy
1 International Monetary Fund - Regional economic outlook (October 2022):
https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/REO/SSA/Issues/2022/10/14/
regional-economic-outlook-for-sub-saharan-africa-october-2022
powerhouse on the African continent over the medium-to
longer-term and alleviate its and the regions energy needs. This
has the potential to accelerate economic growth moving forward,
and we are well positioned to navigate this future with our
strategic partners. We are also looking forward to assisting our
clients in these industries to achieve their aspirations.
Our strategy for 2023 will continue to focus on our clients, our
people as well as operational excellence, thereby ensuring that
our people, processes and systems are properly aligned to
continue to deliver the appealing and relevant customer value
propositions across all segments.
Appreciation
I would like to express my deep gratitude and appreciation to our
clients, our employees and the executive management team, my
board colleagues and numerous other stakeholders for their
ongoing support, tireless work and efforts to produce these
pleasing improved results in continued challenging times. Without
your valuable support these results would not be possible. You
faced the year courageously and this enabled significant progress
in the delivery of our strategic priorities.
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