DBN to establish business rescue task force
Reports N$60 million profit
The DBN's non-performing loans increased from 13.5% to 36% in five years.
The Development Bank of Namibia (DBN) will establish a business rescue task force to aid its ailing clients and to improve its non-performing loans (NPLs), its chief financial officer, Nicky Mutenda said. Mutenda said the move was necessary in light of the increasing NPLs, which had grown over a five-year period.
“Our non-performing loans increased from 13.5% to 36% in five years. This is more than 22%, which is a significant deterioration in the quality of the book, and this proves that, to a larger extent really, the situation with the NPL is very much reflective of the performance of the broader economy,” Mutenda said.
Mutenda said the DBN was in the process of enhancing its recovery functions.
“We have established an NPL task force. We have enhanced and continue to enhance our credit origination, wake-outs, collection and recovery functions. We received support from our developing partners, like the KFW, who have pledged 1.2 million euros to address the challenges within those functions and beyond,” he said.
For the year under review, the bank targeted achieving N$100 million in profit, however, it only attained a net operating profit of N$62 million, which is 62% of its target.
“After two consecutive years of net losses, including N$270 million in 2022/23, our current performance reflects a positive shift,” its CEO, John Steytler said.
Similarly, the net interest income, a crucial measure of financial sustainability, increased by 29% year on year, from N$348 million in 2023 to N$450 million in 2024.
DBN's total assets now stand at N$7.3 billion, a reduction of 8%, compared to N$7.79 billion recorded in the previous reporting period.