Almot Maqolo, Staff Writer 
GETBUCKS Microfinance Bank (GetBucks) says it in the process of negotiating transactions, as part of its capital raise initiative to be completed this year.
The institution’s recapitalisation, which was anticipated to be completed in 2022, will take place this year, which should allow it to underwrite additional business. The capital raise will help the microfinance bank address the regulatory minimum capital requirement of US$5 million equivalent.
“The raised capital will reduce the microfinance bank’s cost of funding, as well as capacitating its expansion drive,” the board chairperson of GetBucks Microfinance Bank, Rungano Mbire, said in a statement accompanying the results for the year ended December 31, 2022.
He said trading in the US dollar ensures a significant degree of certainty in planning and operations, necessitating the microfinance bank to continue to implement capital preservation initiatives to uphold shareholder value.
Mbire said the local currency, however, continues to be pummelled by both inflation and exchange loss against all the major currencies.
During the year ended December 31, 2022 GetBucks reported a profit before tax of $136,2 million, an increase of 186 percent over the profit of $47,6 million in the prior year.
Operating expenses jumped 19 percent during the year under review, from $1,37 billion in 2021 to $1,64 billion in 2022.
“The increase was lower than the average inflation for the year under review as the microfinance bank embarked on a cost-cutting drive while operating in an inflationary environment,” Mbire said.
As a result of GetBuck’s success in mobilising new lines of credit, borrowings rose from $976 million to $1,4 billion. Customer deposits climbed 132 percent from $272 million in 2021 to $631 million in 2022.
“The increase is attributable to the increased use of the US dollar in the economy. The microfinance bank is now issuing loans in US dollars and deposits in this currency tend to stick a bit longer,” he said.
“There, however, still exists a general market’s reluctance to hold on to monetary assets, especially in ZWL, considering the inflationary pressure and fear of real monetary loss due to currency depreciation.”
From $617 million in 2021 to $1,52 billion in 2022, the loan book expanded by 147 percent.
GetBucks had a 19 percent rise in total assets, from $3,48 billion to $4,14 billion, thanks to loan book expansion.
“The microfinance bank was able to access US dollar credit lines and extend these to its customer base. The microfinance bank had foreign currency denominated commitments of ZWL1.330 billion,” Mbire said.
He added that the microfinance bank showed resilience despite a difficult operating environment.
GetBucks did not declare a dividend.
newsdesk@fingaz.co.zw
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