Business not so good for Stanchart

Global banking group Standard Chartered Plc’s Zimbabwean unit reported pre-tax profit of $1.2 million in the six months to June 2015, a decrease of 85 percent from a profit of $8.1 million a year earlier.

“The net impairment charge was $2.8 million compared with a net recovery of $2.1 million posted in the six months to 30 June 2014, reflecting the challenging operating environment and our prudent provisioning methodologies,” StanChart chairman Samuel Rushwaya said in a statement.

In the period under review, the bank’s net interest income declined marginally to $12.3 million from $12.5 million registered in June 2014, while non-interest income also declined from $22.4 million last year to $20.4 million.

Rushwaya noted that StanChart remained committed to its Zimbabwe operations despite the current challenging operating environment.

“The bank has contributed significantly to the growth of Zimbabwe’s key economic sectors such as agriculture, trade, commodities and small to medium enterprises,” he said.

Rushwaya said the bank will go through some changes in the near future, which are expected to further sharpen the financial institution’s focus on efficiency and productivity leveraging on technology.

The latest development follows the recent appointment of Bill Winters as Standard Chartered Plc group chief executive.

Winters, who took over from Peter Sands in June this year, announced a refreshed management team to lead the bank through the next phase of reorganisation.

Among the changes is the consolidation of the financial institution’s regions from eight to four and Zimbabwe will be part of the Africa and Middle East region to be headed by Sunil Kaushal.-The Source

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