Afreximbank Delivers Strong Q1 2024 Results, Surpasses Prior Year’s Performance
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has released the consolidated financial statements of the Bank and its subsidiaries for the three months ended 31 March 2024.
The Group’s results for the period demonstrated yet again great resilience in the face of challenging geopolitical and macroeconomic conditions, according to a statement yesterday.
The results showed year-onyear growth and an increase in shareholder value.
It revealed that the Bank’s Net Interest Income for Q1 2024 grew by 31.73 per cent to $393.4 million, compared to $298.6 million for the prior year’s comparative period (Q1 2023).
The increase was largely driven by a 40.07 per cent increase in interest income to $721.8 million, on the back of the growth in the bank’s portfolio of loans and advances.
Its net interest margin improved to 4.82 per cent compared to 4.40 per cent in the corresponding period due to a combination of higher benchmark rates and effective management of borrowing costs.
The Group demonstrated an improvement in operating efficiency with a lower cost to income ratio of 14.50 per cent in the review period, compared to 16.82 per cent in the first quarter of 2023. This was achieved despite a 10.63 per cent increase in operating expenses to $61.4 million (Q1 2023: US$55.5 million).
“Staff costs rose by 28.55 per cent year-on-year following an increase in staff headcount to support the growth of group business and other initiatives, in line with the bank’s Sixth Strategic Plan, constituting 52.93 per cent of Group’s expenses.