NBS expects 20% fall in net profits
Malawi Stock Exchange listed commercial bank, NBS, says it expects its profits for the year 2015 to fall by over 20 percent.
In a trading statement for the year ending 31 December, 2015, signed by Company Secretary Chimwemwe Ngondoma, NBS said it expects its net profit for the year to be more than 20 percent lower than the profit it realised in the year 2014.
The bank, however, warned that the information on which the projection has been made has not been reviewed by the bank’s auditors.
NBS said it has made the announcement to fulfill requirements of the Malawi Stock Exchange Limited which makes it mandatory for a listed company to publish a trading statement, within 30 days prior to the reporting period, as soon as there is reasonable degree of certainty that the financial results for the period to be reported upon next will differ by at least 20 percent from that of the previous corresponding period.
The development comes at a time when the operating environment remained tough throughout 2015 characterised by high inflation, rising interest rates and a falling kwacha.
An over 20 percent fall in profit means that NBS Bank shareholders should expect the bank to post a profit before tax of below K3.252 billion.
Last year, the bank and its subsidiary, NBS Forex Bureau Limited reported a profit before tax of K4,065 million for the year ended 31 December 2014 and net profit after tax of K2,693 million.
Speaking on the sidelines of the bank’s customer appreciation cocktail party early this month, NBS Bank Chief Operating Officer Martin Siwu said changes in the regulatory environment in 2015 affected the operations of the bank. Siwu said a squeeze in forex margins as well as a hike in interest rates had a knock effect on business in the year.
Formerly New Building Society, NBS Bank was incorporated as a limited company on March 14, 2003 and registered under the Banking Act on March 1, 2004.
