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HOPES: Bank BIC Namibia’s CEO Lindsay Crawford. PHOTO: CONTRIBUTED
HOPES: Bank BIC Namibia’s CEO Lindsay Crawford. PHOTO: CONTRIBUTED

Bank BIC CEO remains optimistic despite N$218m losses

Set to turn financial tide towards end of 2023
"We are evolving from a start-up operation. Initial capital and operational costs are exceptionally high in a business of this nature," the CEO said.
Ogone Tlhage
Bank BIC Namibia’s CEO Lindsay Crawford is optimistic the bank will turn the financial tide towards the end of 2023, after struggling to get onto its feet since its inception.

Shareholders in the Angolan-backed lender have incurred accumulated losses to the value of N$218 million since 2016.

Despite this anomaly, the bank’s shareholders, including Banco BIC Angola SA, have so far pumped N$600 million into the entity.

The bank made a total comprehensive loss of N$53.9 million for the 2021 financial year, with this attributable to its shareholders’ standing at N$51.2 million for 2021 alone.

Crawford, in his response to Namibian Sun queries this week, believes the bank is a focal point for trade between Namibia and Angola and its fee structure is competitive.

Asked to comment on the unenviable loss-making position the bank finds itself, he said: “We believe this is sensationalism, nothing else”.

“We are evolving from a start-up operation. Initial capital and operational costs are exceptionally high in a business of this nature. We do not have economies of scale, which will happen moving forward,” he said.

Millions of dollars

Apart from one incident of staff member-related fraud, Crawford said the bank has not written off any bad credit debts since it started operations.

It has, however, been unable to reign in its losses over the years, with its year-on-year loss growing by N$8.2 million for 2021 and 2020.

A look at its income statement for the same period indicates that the bank generated N$16.2 million in net interest income after impairment of loans and advances. Other income generated by the bank for the period includes fees and commission of N$2.2 million and extraordinary income of N$6.2 million as well as other income, totalling N$23.5 million earned from operations.

The bank’s liabilities from institutions stood at N$84.2 million, while loans from financial institutions stood at N$54.5 million.

However, the bank’s expenses far outweigh income derived for the same period, with staff costs amounting to N$34 million, N$28.8 million in operating expenditures, N$13.5 million in depreciation and amortisation and N$1.08 million in finance costs, its income statement showed.

The bank’s cash flow statement showed that it had utilised N$43.3 million for its day-to-day operations, generating only N$19 million in income earned from interest rates and N$2.2 million in income from services and commission, far less than its operational expense of N$60.5 million in cash paid to suppliers and employees.

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Namibian Sun 2024-03-29

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Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 233.12/OZ UP +1.93% | Copper US$ 3.99/lb UP +0.12% | Zinc US$ 2 455.50/T UP 0% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 87.65/BBP UP +1.46% | Platinum US$ 908.62/OZ UP +1.53% Sport results: Weather: Katima Mulilo: 19° | 36° Rundu: 19° | 29° Eenhana: 19° | 29° Oshakati: 21° | 30° Ruacana: 20° | 33° Tsumeb: 19° | 29° Otjiwarongo: 16° | 29° Omaruru: 19° | 32° Windhoek: 17° | 29° Gobabis: 17° | 30° Henties Bay: 16° | 20° Wind speed: 22km/h, Wind direction: S, Low tide: 11:22, High tide: 05:24, Low Tide: 23:26, High tide: 17:46 Swakopmund: 16° | 17° Wind speed: 24km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 11:20, High tide: 05:22, Low Tide: 23:24, High tide: 17:44 Walvis Bay: 16° | 22° Wind speed: 27km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 11:20, High tide: 05:21, Low Tide: 23:24, High tide: 17:43 Rehoboth: 19° | 30° Mariental: 23° | 34° Keetmanshoop: 24° | 35° Aranos: 22° | 33° Lüderitz: 15° | 28° Ariamsvlei: 24° | 35° Oranjemund: 14° | 25° Luanda: 27° | 28° Gaborone: 20° | 32° Lubumbashi: 17° | 26° Mbabane: 16° | 21° Maseru: 11° | 29° Antananarivo: 16° | 27° Lilongwe: 17° | 27° Maputo: 20° | 28° Windhoek: 17° | 29° Cape Town: 17° | 28° Durban: 20° | 24° Johannesburg: 16° | 24° Dar es Salaam: 26° | 32° Lusaka: 20° | 30° Harare: 16° | 29° Economic Indicators: Currency: GBP to NAD 23.77 | EUR to NAD 20.36 | CNY to NAD 2.61 | USD to NAD 18.89 | DZD to NAD 0.14 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.33 | EGP to NAD 0.39 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.74 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.77 | RUB to NAD 0.2 | INR to NAD 0.23 | USD to DZD 134.14 | USD to AOA 832.63 | USD to BWP 13.71 | USD to EGP 47.35 | USD to KES 130.98 | USD to NGN 1415.13 | USD to ZAR 18.89 | USD to ZMW 25.01 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index 74536 Up +0.85% | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1528.69 Up +0.84% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 12986.94 Up +0.04% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 27559.35 Down -2.36% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 233.12/OZ UP +1.93% | Copper US$ 3.99/lb UP +0.12% | Zinc US$ 2 455.50/T UP 0% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 87.65/BBP UP +1.46% | Platinum US$ 908.62/OZ UP +1.53%