LISTED microfinance bank, GetBucks has been granted an Authorised Dealership Licence enabling the entity to fully participate in the international banking segment.
Presenting the financial performance for the full year ended December 31 2021, the group’s chairman, Rungano Mbire described the development as exciting.
"The Microfinance Bank was granted an Authorised Dealership Licence and can now participate in the international banking segment.
"This was an exciting development that will enable the Microfinance Bank to offer a broader range of products to its clients whilst increasing foreign currency transactional income," he said.
The Microfinance Bank also received lines of credit which it will deploy into the loan book to increase interest income.
In addition to this, the provision of financial services using technology continues to be the core focus of the bank.
Meanwhile, during the period under review, borrowings decreased from $210 million to $100 million due to the effects of inflation despite raising additional funding.
The funds were deployed into the loan book though it also reduced from $173 million to $82 million due to the effects of inflation.
The remaining funds were part of the cash and cash equivalents that grew by 35% from $111 to $149 million. Customer deposits increased from prior year by 104% from $57.1 million to $116.7 million resulting in an aggressive deposit mobilisation strategy.
Total assets decreased by 26% from $589.7 million to $438.3 million due to the effects of inflation affecting the monetary assets movement.
However, the microfinance bank recorded a net loss of $45million representing a 159% decrease from prior year attributed to a net monetary loss of $29 million as the Microfinance Bank’s assets were predominantly monetary assets.Operating expenses proportionally increased during the period under review from $115 million to $160 million primarily driven by a general increase in the cost of doing business.
