Shareholders of Stanbic Uganda Holdings are set to receive up to Shs 280 billion in total dividends payout for the year ending December 2023.

This is a record-high payout, and it is Shs 45 billion higher than last financial year’s payment. The payment arises from the recommended payout for 2023 of Shs 3.03 per share totaling Shs 155 billion, in addition to the interim dividends of Shs 2.44 per share totaling Shs 125 billion.      

While releasing the group’s performance report for 2023, Frank Karuhanga, the chief executive, pointed out that although they have been operating in a difficult environment, the improvement in performance makes them proud. He adds that all the companies in the group have posted a dynamic growth working with SMEs which have hardly recovered from the COVID-19 shock.

Karuhanga says the group earned a record profit after tax, the best in the Ugandan financial market. He added that with such a performance, they have recommended Shs 280 billion in dividends, which is also a record payout, and he is optimistic, this will excite the shareholders.

“Shs 412 billion, is what we delivered in profit after taxation, record earnings for a financial institution in this market. We are going to be paying total dividends to our shareholders worth Shs 280 billion. This is also a record payment from a record perspective and we hope that our investors will be happy with that,” Karuhanga said. 

From the performance report, the group’s income rose to Shs 1.9 trillion up from Shs 1.04 trillion as recorded last year, posting a 15.05 percentage growth rate. It also indicates that the group’s net interest income rose to Shs 708.89 billion from Shs 589.41 billion. Not only this, but also the non-interest revenue grew to Shs 485.25 billion up from Shs 448.49 billion.

From the profitability side, the group earned Shs 411.53 billion, up from Shs 357.89 billion earned from the last financial year. Its returns on assets (RoA), posted a 4.42 percentage increase, while the returns on equity (RoE) grew by 21.87 percentage points. The group’s flagship company, Stanbic bank, had a huge bearing on this performance.

Outgoing chief executive, Anne Juuko attributed this to the relentless efforts put in by the entire bank staff.

“The bank is run and managed by more than 2000 very well-skilled and committed individuals, and then results that are being presented are as a result of their commitment and sweat, as well as our customers, board of directors, bank of Uganda and the rest. So it is more of a collective effort,” Juuko explained.        

Juuko said that this performance has made history for the bank, and at the centre of it all, is the bank’s strategy, and the commitment and trust from the customers, which explains the increase in the deposits, as well as the favourable regulatory framework, and also the stable macroeconomics environment.

“Customer deposits grew by 3.29% to Shs 6.33 trillion, and loan advances to customers increased by 3.43% to Shs 4.23 trillion,” part of the report reads.

Despite the bank being largely foreign-owned, Juuko explains that Uganda is the biggest beneficiary of its increased revenues and incomes because over 85 per cent of the value remains in Uganda as operating costs from salaries and wages, equipment purchases, but also the bad debts, because they are also money that was sunk into the Ugandan economy, especially SMEs, and also the huge taxes that bank pays.   

According to the report, the operating costs rose to Shs 583.74 billion from the Shs 495.29 billion that was spent last year. The total assets also increased to Shs 9.30 trillion from Shs 9.06 trillion, with total liabilities amounting to Shs 7.42 trillion compared to Shs 7.28 trillion.