First Discount House has projected continued growth of its assets in the second half of the year riding on the back of what it calls prudent asset acquisition and strategic marketing of products.
The outlook is amid economic volatility.
This is contained in a statement of unaudited financial results for the first half of 2023 published by the company on Monday.
The statement indicates that First Discount House profit-after-tax increased to K4.03 billion in the first half from K2.8 billion in the corresponding period of 2022, representing a 47 percent growth.
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The performance was mainly due to the increase in trading income on government securities, which went up by 35 percent.
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“Total income increased by 46 percent to K7.26 billion in June 2023 from K4.97 billion that was registered over the same period in 2022. Cost to income ratio has gone down to 13 percent in June 2023 from 14 percent in June 2022. Total costs increased by 56 percent from K1.02 billion to K1.60 billion in 2023 due to high inflation rate and the continued depreciation of the Kwacha.
“The discount house continues to implement initiatives that ensure efficient and effective cost management,” the statement reads.
The company’s board chairman Nathan Mpinganjira said the discount house is well positioned for continued asset growth as it continues engaging with its customers and other stakeholders in order to continue meeting their changing needs.
“We expect the effects of the recent devaluation to increase headline inflation for the remaining part of the year, averaging around 29 percent. We anticipate the Kwacha to US Dollar exchange rate to continue depreciating due to forex shortages on the market and remain on an overall downward trajectory in the short to medium term. The policy rate was adjusted upwards during the year and closed at 22 percent in June 2023. The increase was due to a worsening inflation outlook,” Mpinganjira said.
