Online Reporter
Michael Tome
Business Reporter
MUTAPA Investment Fund subsidiary, the People’s Own Savings Bank (POSB), has declared a US$5.1 million dividend for the 2025 financial year, tripling the US$1.52 million it paid for the same period in 2024.
This underlines the State-owned bank’s growing profitability and improving shareholder returns.
POSB has sustained an upward trend in dividend payouts over the past five years, from US$216 000 in 2022 to US$589 341 in 2023, US$1.52 million in 2024 and US$5.1 million this year.
The increase reflects the bank’s strong financial performance, prudent capital management and confidence in its long-term growth strategy, demonstrating its ability to generate shareholder value.POSB said the dividend highlights its capacity to deliver sustainable returns and maintain adequate capital buffers to finance future expansion, digital transformation and strategic investments.
Speaking after presenting the dividend, chief executive officer Mr Garainashe Changunda said creating shareholder value remained at the heart of the bank’s strategy.
He said the dividend represented another milestone for the bank, which celebrated its 120th anniversary last year, noting that POSB had remained committed to promoting financial inclusion while transforming livelihoods across Zimbabwe.
“Our task is to deliver value for the shareholder. Today we are delivering a cheque of US$5.1 million.
Going forward, we will continue to focus on those things that create value for the shareholder.
“Dividend payments have increased consistently over the past five years, reflecting the bank’s strong profitability, sound capital position and commitment to creating shareholder value.
“The consistent growth in dividends reflects the Bank’s strong financial performance, prudent capital management, and confidence in its long-term sustainability,” said Mr Changunda.
He added that the bank would continue strengthening relationships with customers by providing affordable and accessible banking services while embracing technology to improve efficiency.
Mr Changunda attributed the improved financial performance to the bank’s ongoing transformation into a modern, trusted and digitally driven institution.
“We are transforming POSB into a modern, trusted and digital bank. We are driving down our costs through digital technologies so that we can serve our customers more efficiently and at a lower cost,” he said.
Mr Changunda welcomed recent reductions in bank charges by the regulator, saying lower transaction costs had encouraged customers to migrate to digital banking platforms.
“RBZ reduced bank charges and we welcome that because our customers are happy. They are now able to perform more transactions on digital platforms because costs have come down,” he said.
The increased dividend reinforces POSB’s growing contribution to the Mutapa Investment Fund’s investment portfolio and highlights the bank’s progress in balancing shareholder returns with investments in technology, financial inclusion and business expansion.
