Atlas Mara, the company that aiming to be sub-Saharan Africa’s premier financial institution has released its Q1 2016 result showing its revenue rose by 33%.
In a well-prepared result, Atlas Mara’s headline revenue rose to USD51.9 million compared to USD44.3 million the company made in the same quarter last year. Its gross income from associated interests also rose to USD6.9 million compared USD5.2 million declared last year.
However, the company has increased its provision for impairments went up by 75% to USD8.5 million as opposed to USD5.1 million provision for impairment last year. Also, the group’s expenses increased by USD21 million to USD51.7 million versus USD30.7 million the company spent last year.
However, Atlas Mara did cut its mergers, acquisition and administrative expenses considerably compared to last year. Total expenses went down to USD6.0 million opposed to USD10.4 million spent last year.
Giving depth to the result, the company noted that “Full impact from FX translation due to weakness of African currencies versus a stronger US Dollar in the second half of 2015”. Also, its operations in Zimbabwe contributed majorly to the increase in its impairments provision “Credit provisions taken in Zimbabwe against specific corporate loans”
As an outlook for 2016 Atlas Mara said “Our medium-term guidance remains unchanged, with all of the previously communicated targets still in place. We expect our 2016 full-year results to exceed the reported profit of $11.3 million for 2015* but we recognize that weaker African currencies and a more challenging economic backdrop provide meaningful headwinds to this outcome.
Formerly to as Atlas Mara Co-Nvest Limited, Atlas Mara is a financial services holding company formed to undertake the acquisition of target banks in Africa. The company was founded by Bob Diamond and Ashish J. Thakkar in 2013.
Till date Atlas Mara said has acquired, by way of four transactions, control of (or significant stakes in) banking operations in seven sub-Saharan African countries, including Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Rwanda and Nigeria, several of which rank amongst the fastest growing countries in the world.
The company holds about 30% stake in Union Bank of Nigeria. Since it took major interest in the business, Union Bank has improved its earnings profile. In Q1 2016, the bank’s profit after tax grew by 82%, NGN 4.7 billion in Q1 2016 compared to NGN 2.5 billion.
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