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Business Reporter
STANBIC Bank Zimbabwe’s qualifying core capital has clocked $78.5 million — inching closer to the prescribed $100 million target set by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) for commercial banks by 2020.

The central bank raised the capital requirements for banks tenfold in a bid to protect depositors’ funds.

Under the arrangement commercial banks are mandated to raise, between 2012 and 2020, their minimum capital levels from $12,5 million to $100 million.

To date only CBZ has surpassed the $100 million mark.

Stanbic Zimbabwe chairman Sternford Moyo said the achievement was an indication the South African headquartered bank was poised for increased growth on the back of a profit posted in the year ended December 31, 2015.

The bank’s profits for the year jumped by nearly $3 million to $20.7 million compared to the prior year.

Its fee and commission income also grew by 13.6 percent from $30.4 million to $34.5 million.

This was attributable to the increase in the value of assets under custody to around $1.1 billion and the increase in transaction volumes on the bank’s service channels.

Moyo said the bank’s lending dropped marginally to $252 million largely due to temporary decline in facility utilisation by some of its customers.

Operating expenses increased five percent mainly due to the increase in transaction processing costs incurred in activities such as cash importation and repatriation.

Stanbic, a member of the Standard Bank Group was recently named the Best Emerging Markets Bank in Zimbabwe by the Global Finance magazine.

While growth projections remain depressed countrywide, Moyo expressed confidence the bank would achieve its 2015 targets. He vowed continued maintenance of high standards of corporate governance towards ensuring quality service.

“Managing and controlling risks, minimising undue concentrations of exposure and limiting potential losses from stress events are all essential elements of the bank’s risk management and control framework. This framework ultimately leads to the protection of the bank’s reputation,” added Moyo.

Standard Bank Group is the largest African bank by assets with a unique footprint across 20 African countries.

The group is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and has a 153-year history in South Africa having built its franchise outside southern Africa in the early 1990s.