Steward gets mortgage licence

Oliver Kazunga, Senior Business Reporter
ECONET Wireless Zimbabwe-owned financial institution, Steward Bank, has secured an approval from the Reserve Bank to offer mortgage financing to its clients.

In a statement accompanying unaudited abridged financial results for six months ended August 31, 2017, Steward Bank chairman Mr Bernard Chidzero said:

“We recently received regulatory approval to offer mortgages to our customers. This will go a long way in assisting our customers to preserve value under fairly uncertain economic conditions.”

He said the bank would constantly focus on improving its products and services, developing and delivering a world class service experience for the benefit of their customers.

An analysis of Steward Bank’s financial position during the period under review shows that the bank’s current ratio remained flat at 1.5 from the previously audited statement of financial position as at February 28, 2017.

This means that the banking institution managed to maintain its sound financial position to meet short-term financial obligations.

The financial statement for the period under review also shows that Steward Bank’s profit after tax improved remarkably to $8.5 million from $2.6 million during the same period last year largely due to an improvement in revenue. Steward bank’s revenue was $29 million up from $15 million in the comparable period last year.

“Overall performance was largely driven by a strong growth in non-interest income, which grew 112 percent from prior year due to a surge in transactional volumes, notably on cards, Point of Sale and mobile banking transactions,” said Mr Chidzero.

The bank’s total assets increased by 12.5 percent to $254.4 million from $226.1 million mainly on the back of an increase in financial assets.

Total deposits increased to $165.7 million from $144.6 million recorded in the prior year as a result of an increase in individual deposits while loan and advances to customers declined to $52.8 million from $53.6 million.

The equity position improved to $83.5 million from $75 million with accumulated losses declining from $35 million last year to $25.9 million as at August 31, 2017.

@okazunga