NBS Bank forecasts after-tax loss in 2016
While some listed companies in Malawi have projected their profit for 2016 to be above the previous year, NBS Bank says its forecast loss attributable to shareholders is expected to be at least 20 percent higher than last year.
This is according to a trading statement signed by NBS Bank company secretary Marsha Ovi Machika yesterday.
It is in line with Malawi Stock Exchange (MSE) listing requirements to issue a cautionary statement when financial results for the period to be reported upon next will differ by at least 20 percent from the financial results of the previous corresponding period.
In the year ended December 31 2015, NBS Bank made a loss of K195 million due to bad debts given to budding businesses, according a financial statement.
But the bank’s chief executive officer Bernadette Mandoloma hopes that next year, based on the revised macroeconomic fundamentals and projected good rains, the future is bright.
“We believe that the recent reduction in the monetary policy rate, the government’s renewed fiscal policy, the projected good rains are strong indicators of a potential turn around in the fortunes of our economy,” she said in an interview last week in Lilongwe.
Earlier, Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) gave the bank until December to meet Basel II requirements.
Other listed companies that have projected a growth in profit after-tax in the year ending December 31 2016 include TNM plc (20 percent), FMB (40 percent), Sunbird Tourism Limited (25 percent) and Press Corporation Limited (20 percent). n
