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Enacy Mapakame Business Reporter
CBZ HOLDINGS sold $40 million worth of debt to Zimbabwe Asset Management Company (ZAMCO) during the first six months of 2016, but the group still booked a 3,8 percent increase in bad loans due to poor performance in agriculture.

Non performing loans (NPLs) climbed to $78,9 million during the half-year from $76,1 million at full-year 2015, according to the banking group’s latest earnings release.

CBZ Holdings, Zimbabwe’s biggest lender with over $1 billion in deposits, blamed the increase on below par performance in agriculture. The number of customers in agriculture that failed to repay loans rose sharply, it said, up more than 93 percent. The 2015 /16 agriculture season was negatively affected by bad weather characterised by the El Nino induced drought.

Resultantly agriculture sector performed poorly which drove CBZ’s overall ratio of NPLs higher at 7,2 percent from 6,9 percent, but still remained within the banking sector’s benchmark of 10 percent.

And thanks to the ZAMCO debt sale, the group cut the amount of debt it did not expect to recover by 37 percent to $9,1 million, for the half-year in review.

For the six months under review, total deposits were 5,3 percent firmer at $1,77 billion from comparable period’s $1,68 billion on strong innovation and customer centric service delivery approach.

The services sector contributed 30 percent of the deposits while financial organisations and the distributions sector contributed 30 percent and 17 percent in that order.

Equities analysts forecast the group to remain profitable and on course in meeting its objectives with an upsurge in deposits on introduction of new innovative products and increase in agents.

“We anticipate deposits to continue on an upward trend as we have forecast a 10,1 percent growth year on year, slower than the 12,5 percent that has been forecast by management,” said brokerage firm, IH Securities.

CBZH’s total income for the period was 12 percent weaker at $73,2 million compared to $83,2 million posted in the same period last year while profit after tax declined 13 percent to $11,9 million.