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Diamond Trust Bank Uganda, the Ugandan subsidiary of the Kenya-headquartered Diamond Trust Bank Group has released its 2022 financials reporting double-digit growth in deposits, lending, income, profits and assets.
According to results made public last, DTB Uganda reported a 25% growth in deposits from UGX1.5 trillion in 2021 to UGX1.88 trillion⏤ an increase of UGX375.6 billion. The bank also reported that it extended 15.8% more credit than it did in 2021, extending some UGX791.3 billion in loans, to retail, SME and corporate clients, up from UGX 683.4 billion in 2021.
Growth in lending fuelled a 14.9% growth in income from UGX19.5 billion to UGX224.6 billion.
Income growth, combined with prudent cost management, saw net profit grow by 16.2% from UGX30.8 billion in 2021 to a new high of UGX35.8 billion.
Double-digit rises in deposits, lending, income and profits drove a 20.1% rise in assets, from UGX2.01 trillion to UGX2.42 trillion ⏤ a growth of UGX406.2 billion.
As a result, the bank overtook Bank of Baroda as the 7th largest by deposits with a 5.3% market share, a light reduction from 5.6% the previous year. It is also the 8th largest by assets and lending, as well as the 9th largest by income and profitability.
Underpinning this growth, according to Azim H. A. Kassam, the bank’s Chairman Board of Directors, is a 17% year-on-year growth in customer numbers that saw the bank end 2022 with nearly 160,000 customers.
“Our digital transformation journey, embarked upon last year and intended to continue apace in 2023, will enable us to build upon this excellent growth more quickly in the months and years ahead, anchored as it is on building and expanding organic capacity, fostering partnerships with fintechs and tech-enabled companies, acquiring new competencies in cloud computing, software engineering and data analytics, and investing in world-leading cutting-edge technology,” he said.
“We are confident that these enablers will play an essential role in our transition away from being a traditional “bricks and mortar” bank towards becoming a technology company with a banking licence, more agile and innovative in our ways of working, increasingly nimble and responsive in our mindset, and well positioned to ensure that we continue to deliver for our customers,” Mr. Azim added.
Building and enriching customer value propositions and investing in people
Commenting about the performance, Mr. Varghese Thambi, the bank’s Managing Director/CEO said that 2022 was yet another “pivotal year” in which the bank continued to mutually benefit from investing in the “financial well-being of our customers by offering them unmatched services and innovative solutions, anchored on convenience, agility in response and ease of access”.
“We spent the better part of 2022 laying a solid foundation for the successful implementation of DTB’s growth strategy focused on building and enriching our customer value propositions and investing in people and digital capacities and skills,” he added.
Mr. Thambi has been instrumental in the bank’s growth, helping it break into the top 10 banks in 2012 and consolidate market share growth thereafter.
Since he joined the bank in 2007, DTB Uganda has grown the bank from an obscure player to one of the top 10 banks with not only a significant market share but also an award-winning and trusted financial institution.
Growing trust and respect has seen the bank’s customer deposits grow 34.5 times or 3348.9% from UGX54.4 billion in 2007 to UGX375.6 billion at the end of 2022. Growth in deposits has also enabled DTB to grow its lending by 21 times or 2004.5%, from UGX37.6 billion in 2007 to UGX791.3 billion at the end of 2022.
DTB’s revenues have also grown by more than 28.8 times (2779.5%) in this period, from UGX7.8 billion to UGX224.6 billion. Profitability has also grown from a mere UGX630 million in 2007 to a record high of UGX35.8 billion, in 2022⏤ a 5582.5% increase or 56.8 times.
This all-round great performance has seen the bank’s assets grow by 31.8 times in 15 years or 3075.2%, from UGX76.3 billion to UGX2.4 2 trillion in 2022.
The bank also reported that its capital buffers had been reinforced above regulatory limit targets. The share capital was increased from UGX45.3 billion to UGX150 billion and core capital from UGX238.9 billion to UGX249.5 billion, well over the UGX120 billion limit set for both, as of the end of December 2022.
It shall be recalled that on 16 November 2022, the Minister of Finance Planning and Economic Development in consultation with the Bank of Uganda endorsed a new statutory instrument requiring commercial banks to have a minimum paid-up cash capital (share capital) of UGX120 billion by 31 December 2022, and UGX150 billion by 30 June 2024. The instrument also stipulated minimum capital funds unimpaired by losses (core capital) of UGX120 billion by 31 December 2022, and UGX150 billion by 30 June 2024.