Such impressive figures in 2007 were driven in large part by the bank’s efforts to increase its lending portfolio. It succeeded in boosting lending to Ush144bn ($72m) during the course of 2007, and has already increased that to Ush172bn in the first half of 2008.
Despite this explosion in lending, Crane Bank managed to slash its non-performing loan ratio from 2.16% of its loan book in 2006 to just 0.58% in 2007. On top of theses revenues, prudent credit risk management alongside sharp increases in foreign exchange earnings also helped bolster shareholder returns. The bank returned more than 40% on its equity in 2007, up from 38.7% in 2006. Looking ahead, the bank plans to further penetrate the war-torn northern Uganda as well as in the agricultural heart of the country in the east.
“The bank’s strengths, reputation in the market place and desire for continued growth has immensely contributed to our performance,” says Crane Bank managing director A R Kallan. “The prospect for 2008 is promising. Our geographical expansion in terms of branch network is set to increase and we will open a number of up-country branches to expand banking services to these potential centres and thereby bring the vast reservoir of unbanked people into the banking net.”
