Ecobank Uganda is past dark days after posting a net profit of Shs4.78bn in 2018, up from Shs1.54bn recorded in 2017.
This means that the bank has now recorded profits for the third consecutive year.
The bank’s financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2018 released today indicate that balance sheet grew by 6% to Shs415bn in 2018, up from Shs391bn in 2017 on account of a 55 increase in customer deposits to investments in interest earning assets.
Customer deposits increased to Shs288.3bn in 2018, up from Shs274.8bn reported a year earlier.
Under the stewardship of Clement Dodoo (in featured photo) as Managing Director, Ecobank posted profits for the first time in 2016, having joined the Ugandan market in 2008.
It has since 2016 showed progressive growth. In 2016, the Pan-African bank made a net profit of Shs813.3m.
The bank’s total assets increased by 6% to Shs414.6bn in 2018, up from Shs390.8bn recorded a year earlier.
On a further positive note, bad loans written off reduced to Shs277.6m, down from Shs393.9m.
However, Non-Performing Loans increased slightly to Shs10.3bn in 2018, up from Shs9.8bn reported in 2017.
Loans advanced to customers also reduced to Shs131.6bn in 2018, down from Shs145.8bn in 2017.
The bank also remains well capitalized way above the Shs25bn minimum capital requirement by the Bank of Uganda.
Its core capital increased to Shs56.7bn in 2018, up from Shs55.4bn in 2014.
In an interview with Business Focus, Dodoo admitted that 2018 was another “tough year” for the bank.
“We made some appreciable progress which we intend to build on gradually,” he said.
He thanked the bank’s customers for the dedicated and continued support for the past 10 years.
“We promise to continue improving on our service quality,” he added.
