LIVINGSTONE MARUFU
AFC Holdings has posted a profit of ZWL$308m in the five months to May 31, 2021 largely due to cost efficiency measures.
“The positive performance for the period was mainly driven by the cost to income ratio for the year to date which was 59% compared to a budget of 73% whilst the staff cost to income ratio for the year to date was 27% against budget of 36%,” AFC acting CEO Elfas Chimbera said.
Chimbera said the lender’s loan book almost doubled to ZWL$4.1bn in the reviewed period compared to the December position.
The loan to deposit ratio was 67.4% against a budget of 49.1% . The Agriculture book represented about 55% of the total book.
Chimbera said the bank, in line with its strategy to grow the export book, had an export book of US$7.5m compared to less than US$2m as at December 2020.
Total customer deposits were ZWL$6.1bn, which was a 29% increase from April 30 2021.
The bank closed the period with a liquidity ratio of 64%, which was well above the RBZ minimum liquidity requirement of 30%.
The improvement in liquidity was attributed to increased deposits, agro bills funding and capitalisation of the bank.