CBZ posts excellent results

The Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe, which was headed by central bank governor Gideon Gono, was one of the few banks unshaken by the new monetary policy announced by Gono in December which saw several banks and financial institutions teeter on the brink of collapse.

The bank, which trades as the Jewel Bank, saw net interest income improve from $6 billion in 2002 to $43.1 billion last year. Other income increased from $3.3 billion to $19.6 billion with total income shooting up from $9.3 billion to $62.6 billion.

Operating income increased from $5.2 billion to $39.4 billion with net income up from $2.7 billion to $16.9 billion.

The bank says while 2003 was one of the worst years in the country’s history with gross domestic product contracting by 15 percent, it still managed to achieve real growth with return on equity increasing from 106 percent to 319 percent.

Non-performing advances decreased from 3.5 percent to 0.4 percent. Deposits went up by 440 percent from $55.2 billion to $297.8 billion while the balance sheet grew by 481 percent from $69.5billion to $403.7 billion.

Its capital adequacy ratio was 16.05 at the end of the year. The central bank requires a minimum of 10 percent.

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