Crane Bank scored successes on all fronts last year, with an improved performance across the board. Its net profits rose by an impressive 71.51% in the period and RoE was up sharply to 45.43% from 28.68% in the previous year. The group’s cost-income ratio was cut to 61.49% from 71.06% and the NPL ratio reduced to 2.16% from 4.38% of the loan book.
The record performance was helped by minimising the bank’s reliance on government treasury bills and bonds, and boosting the lending portfolio. There was a group-wide effort to control costs, and Crane launched an aggressive campaign in the FX market to provide customers with innovative foreign exchange products, yielding a 37.66% net gain in FX dealings.
Last year, Crane acquired Uganda’s leading non-bank financial institution, Stanhope Finance. This created synergies that were part of the bank’s strategy to expand its customer base and profitability. Crane increased its geographical coverage by opening branches in four northern areas. It was the first local bank in Uganda to acquire a Visa principal membership and, as a result, it launched the first Crane Visa Electron Card in a record six months.
The bank ran several successful promotion campaigns to bring the vast unbanked population of Uganda into the banking mainstream with the use of Crane access accounts. It took several other business initiatives, such as a tie-up with Western Union.
The business aim is to consolidate and build on its current success without compromising on the short-term financial objectives set out for 2007.
