By Lwazi Dlamini
Nedbank Eswatini’s strong financial performance amidst a challenging environment is reflected in the E100 million dividend for its shareholders for the financial year ended December 31, 2023.
The Bank, according to the financial results released on Wednesday by Managing Director Fikile Nkosi, declared a dividend of 64.06 cents per share, totalling E100 million for the financial year ended December 31, 2023, payable to the shareholders.
The shareholders are those registered in the books of the company at the close of business on May 10, 2024.
The dividend will be paid to the shareholders on May 31, 2024, and in declaring the dividend all liquidity, solvency and capital requirements were adhered to.
The bank recorded headline earnings of E178 million, which reflected an increment of 10 per cent.
The Nedbank Eswatini declared dividend was slightly higher than the interim ordinary dividend of 63.5 cents per ordinary share, totalling E84 491 859 for the six months ended December 31, 2023.
“The Eswatini economy grew modestly in 2023, with remnants of Covid-19 recovery as well as a substantial increase in the country’s SACU receipts. Global and local inflation remained at escalated levels due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
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To reduce the impact of growing prices, the Central Bank of Eswatini maintained a contractionary monetary policy stance, raising interest rates by a net 100 basis points during 2023,” said Nedbank Managing Director, Fikile Nkosi when releasing the bank’s financial results.
She said Nedbank Eswatini is a purpose-led business with a sales engine made up of Retail, Wholesale Banking and Treasury, who have all contributed positively to the 2023 performance.
“We continue to support the Government’s goals as outlined in the national budget for capital funding, relating to national infrastructure projects. We are on a digital journey and have seen growth in the digital active base from 45% to 64% we also observed a 25% increase in send money volumes.
Innovation remains an important aspect of our growth, we managed to provide digital and other solutions to clients, including the USD CFC interest-earning accounts, Floating term deposits and well as Negotiable certificates of Deposits which were spearheaded by our treasury department,” she added.
Nedbank Eswatini spent a sum of E1.2 million on CSI initiatives.
Key points:
- Headline earnings increased by 10% to E178m.
- HE increase was driven by growth in net interest income (NII)
- Headline earnings per share (HEPS) was 722 cents
- ROE increased to 17%
- The cost-to-income ratio improved to 52%
- Capital Adequacy Ratio of 18.4%, more than the regulators’ minimum requirements
Final dividend for 2023 is 406 cents per share
