Stanbic Bank Zambia has recorded a profit after tax of K450 million, making 2019 an outstanding year with a year-on-year growth of 95.7 per cent, the first time any financial institution in Zambia is posting earnings this strong.

And Stanbic Bank Chief Executive Officer Leina Gabaraane says the bank chose to tackle Zambia’s tough economy “head on” by adapting to its products and services rather than scaling down its activity.

Announcing the results in a statement, Saturday, Gabaraane said the bank would not allow its success to weaken its dedication to excellence in terms of service delivery.

“In the service industry, you are only as good as your last significant milestone. While we celebrate our achievements thus far, we will continue to strive for growth and build on our successes. We will not allow our recent achievements to dampen our commitment to the highest service standards. While we take immense pride in this achievement, the credit belongs to our dedicated staff and loyal customers and as Stanbic we wish to thank them for making this possible and ultimately being part of our success,” Gabaraane said.

Stanbic Bank was recently named the 2019 Banker’s Bank of the Year in Zambia by the Banker’s Magazine – part of the Financial Times Group.

The bank’s latest milestone sets a new earnings record in the local financial sector, surpassing the previous record set in 2016 by K89 million.

The growth has come amid economic downturn in Zambia exacerbated by various headwinds, including rising inflation pressures, fiscal imbalances, a volatile currency and a persistent energy crisis.

“At Stanbic we do not view challenges as a hindrance to progress but rather an opportunity to innovate and find new ways to grow…Instead of scaling down our activity, we decided to tackle the tough economy head on by adapting our products and services to provide our clients with tools they need to weather the rough times.
We leveraged our position as the largest bank in Zambia to create a perfect balance of digital versus traditional banking to keep our services relevant to the customer in spite of the economic conditions,” Gabaraane said.

“We introduced several ground-breaking products like the instant loan service to give businesses and individual easier access to capital and the Yasha Malaiti preposition to help our customers overcome load shedding. All these products were created with the customer’s needs in mind and were designed to help keep the economic wheel turning through this rough patch.”

The bank stated that over the years, it has established itself as one of the country’s strongest promoters and facilitators of trade at individual, corporate and national level.

“This unwavering support was demonstrated by the bank’s overall performance when it retained its position as the largest provider of trade services like guarantees and letters of credit in Zambia’s banking sector in 2019. This has culminated in a total of K5.38 billion worth of credit being injected into the economy so far. Stanbic’s focus on customer needs as well as finding innovative ways to keep the economy moving forward is part of why we managed to remain profitable despite the challenges the country may be facing,” said Gabaraane. “And now that we are the first bank in Zambia to break through the psychological barrier of K450 million after tax profit, our goal for the remainder of 2020 is to be our own biggest competitor and aim to raise the bar even higher in terms of revenue and service delivery. We will continue to play a significant role in helping the country and our customers find new ways to maintain their growth because Zambia is our home, we drive her growth.”