Over the past 15 years of operations, Bank One, a commercial bank based in Mauritius, has seen its assets grow 10 fold, driven by accelerated customer growth.
Total revenue has improved 43 times, with the number of people working at the bank doubling to above 400 according to the Bank’s 2023 annual report.As it celebrates this milestone, the bank is now embarking on an ambitious pan-African expansion strategy, according to its CEO Mark Watkinson. Additionally, the capital position of the Bank has strengthened from 10% to just below 17% and the business now generates a return on equity of 19.50% for its shareholders. In 2008, Nairobi Securities Exchange listed I&M Bank Group acquired a 50% stake in the lender. The subsidiary has since contributed to I&M’s profits.
The Mauritian-based bank registered an impressive 35% uptick in their FY’23 results despite the challenging macroeconomic environment in 2023. Customer deposits grew by 17% driven by robust customer growth. This in turn boosted the lender’s loan book, which grew by 10%.
Non-performing loans increased to 4.20% with the loan provisioning ratio at 46.9% pointing to a cautious approach amidst macroeconomic uncertainties.
Interest income increased by 69% in 2023, driven by higher income generating local and foreign assets, and elevated interest rates during the year. On the contrary, interest expense was up by 171% on account of higher cost of funding both in local and foreign currencies as well as increase in deposits.
Interest-bearing liabilities, largely of deposits, increased by 15% with the overall net interest income rising by 28% during the year. The cost-to-income ratio decreased mildly to 62% reflecting the bank’s commitment to optimize cost efficiencies across board.
The strategy of the bank on the assets side has been to remain prudent to continue to protect its liquidity position and capital. The Bank’s international securities and custody business continues to strengthen and bear good synergies with the financial institutions client base.
Working closely with its shareholder groups in Africa, I&M and CIEL, the business has broken new ground and is supporting its financial services and corporate customers in 14 different East African countries.
The lender’s growth will be propelled by increased focus in institutional banking, cross border business, treasury and custody business expanding their footprint in Sub-Saharan Africa. The bank’s digital uptake and continued expansion is a boost to customer growth and revenue realization.
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