UGANDA – Uganda Development Bank (UDB), has posted a net profit of USh10.14 billion (US$2.67m) indicating a growth of 7 per cent up from USh9.49 billion (US$2.50m) in 2018. 

The bank’s financial results that were published on Friday indicate that the balance sheet grew by 31 per cent to yield at USh486.37 billion (US$0.13bn). 

“This was supported by a 74 per cent increase in the government of Uganda capital contributions, improving from USh48.15 billion (US$12.67m) in 2018 to USh83.73 billion (US$22.04m) in 2019,” UDB’s managing director Patricia A. Ojangole said. 

“Additionally, the bank drew down various lines of credit with its development partners during the year resulting in a 22 per cent increase in borrowing from USh97.03 billion (US$24.49m) in 2018 to USh118.00 billion (US$31.06m) in 2019.”  

Ms Ojangole said UDB also generated various funding relationships that are expected to mature in the short to medium-term and will continue to leverage its equity source alternative funding opportunities to support its investment activities. 

“Moving forward, we remain cognizant of the need to embed sustainability in our operations and to align our interventions to national priorities as enshrined in Uganda’s Vision 2040 and the National Development Plan three. The bank has revived its strategic plan to cover the next five year period 2020-2024 to include sustainability strategy,” she said. 

The bank’s assets increased by 31 per cent from USh370 billion (US$97.39m) to USh486 billion (US$0.13bn) on the back of the increase in the government of Uganda capital contribution as well as the drawdown of lines of credit. 

The financial results show that gross loan and advances rose by USh46 billion (US$12.11m), which indicates 15 per cent growth during the year. During this period, the bank disbursed USh183.9 billion (US$48.41m) to projects in 2019 compared to USh154.5 billion (US$40.67m) in 2018 representing a 19 per cent growth. 

The bank’s net interest increased by 17 per cent to USh38.9 billion (US$10.24m) from USh33.2 billion (US$8.74m) in 2018. The bank explains that interest and similar income grew by USh6.5 billion (US$1.71m) representing 18 per cent in 2019 as a result of a 15 per cent growth in the gross loans and advances.