"The financial performance this year demonstrates the effectiveness of our strategy and the resilience of our business. Despite the adversities, our total revenue grew by 5%, from 18,274 million meticais [266.3 million euros], in 2022, to 19,123 million meticais [278.7 million euros]", reads the message from Standard Bank's CEO, Bernardo Aparício, in the document.

Results that he also describes as "remarkable", especially considering that the bank's "proportion of earning assets" in total assets "fell sharply" in the last year, from 84% to 68%, "following the adjustment of the coefficient of mandatory reserves", which was increased in 2023 by decision of the central bank.

"Our balance sheet remains strong and very liquid. Given the restrictive monetary policy in the past year, the sector as a whole had weak growth in terms of assets. In this context, we continued to focus on asset quality", Bernardo Aparício also described.

Standard Bank Mozambique closed 2023 with 1,364 employees, 9% more than in the previous year.

The net loan portfolio of the bank, from the same South African group, fell by 15.8% in 2023, namely due to the "repayment" of loans from some of the "large corporate clients", the report explains.

"During the year, we made concerted efforts to reformulate troubled loans and to recover those that could not be restructured. These efforts produced remarkable results, with non-performing loans decreasing from 2,611 million meticais [38 million euros] in 2022 to 2,581 million meticais [37.6 million euros] in 2023", reads the document.

On March 8, the board of directors of Standard Bank Mozambique proposed the distribution of dividends to shareholders in the amount of 6,271 million meticais [91.4 million euros], relating to the 2023 fiscal year.

The bank also highlights in the report and accounts that the return on equity grew from 20.6% in 2022 to 21.1% last year, "as a result of greater efficiency", and the financial margin increased from 8.8% to 9.8%, but with the transformation rate falling from 36.5% to 32.5%.

The total volume of loans and advances to the bank's customers fell in 2023 to 34,361 million meticais (501 million euros).

Standard Bank ended 2023 with total assets that increased to 158,937 million meticais (2,317 million euros), while equity rose to 35,808 million meticais (522 million euros) and liabilities grew to 123,129 million meticais (1,795 million euros).

Standard Bank Mozambique is a private bank established in 1967, headquartered in Maputo, - but whose activity in the country dates back to 1894 -- and whose parent company and majority shareholder is Stanbic Africa Holdings Limited, an investment bank established in the United Kingdom that holds a stake equivalent to 98.15% of the share capital.

In turn, Stanbic Africa Holdings Limited is a wholly owned entity of Standard Bank Group, an investment bank established in South Africa. The remaining 1.85% of the capital of the Mozambique branch is held by minority shareholders.

Read Also: April 25 Revolution "was built in Portugal" and in the colonies (Portuguese version)