Investors on the Ugandan Securities Exchange (USE) are eyeing good tidings from commercial banking stock as lenders start to declare their end-year results this week.

Most of the banks have posted notable gains during the first three months of 2025 on the stock market, a result of investor optimism towards their full-year performance reports of 2024, which are due this week.

This pattern has bucked the trend where the bourse has generally reported low-key activity.

Yet recent stock market trading statistics show Stanbic Holdings Uganda Ltd (SHUL)’s share price rose from Ush39 ($0.01) in January 2025 to Ush48 ($0.013) recorded in mid-March.

SHUL is the holding company for Stanbic Bank Uganda and owns 100 percent shares in the country’s largest commercial bank, by assets.

In comparison, DFCU Ltd’s share price increased from Ush225 ($0.06) to a record high of Ush239 ($0.065) in mid-March according to USE trading reports. DFCU Ltd is the holding company for DFCU Bank Uganda Ltd and owns 100 percent shares in the latter.

The Bank of Baroda’s (Bobu) share price averaged Ush22 ($0.006) during the same period under review; a sign of slightly bullish investor expectations tied to its full-year earnings for 2024.“Both Bobu and DFCU Ltd invested heavily in government securities last year, and that means stronger interest incomes for 2024. Investors seem hopeful about DFCU Ltd because of notable half-year results published in 2024 and are also optimistic about lower non-performing loans and reduced staff turnover,” said Calvin Bateme, an equity research analyst at Crested Capital Ltd, which monitors and advises on stock market investments.

Andrew Muhimbise, a USE retail investor said BOBU’s profit for 2024 is likely to increase by less than 20 percent, even though its growth projections in its asset book and loan portfolio may not be certain.

Total assets held by SHUL increased from Ush9.3 trillion ($2.5 billion) in December 2023 to Ush10.4 trillion ($2.8 billion) in December 2024, according to its latest financial results published last week.

Its net interest income grew from Ush708.9 billion ($192 million) in December 2023 to Ush759.8 billion ($205.9 million) in December 2024, while profit before tax rose from Ush540.9 billion ($146.6 million) to Ush651 billion ($176 million) during the same period under review.

Read: Uganda mid-year financial reporting season thrills investorsTotal loans and advances increased from Ush4.2 trillion ($1.14 billion) in December 2023 to Ush4.4 trillion ($1.19 billion) in December 2024; a trend attributed to stiff credit evaluation standards adopted by Stanbic Bank last year.

One reason for Stanbic’s positive growth was that Uganda recorded better Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) flows last year into the oil and gas sector.“We are receiving a lot of dollars and have got sufficient liquidity to absorb them. We support several oil and gas companies under the local content procurement policy initiated by government.“Our dividend policy is likely to rotate around a dividend pay-out ratio of 60 percent that could slightly increase or decrease depending on circumstances,” said Sam Mwogeza, Executive Director in charge of High Net worth Clients at Stanbic Bank Uganda.

This dividend policy pay-out ratio is meant to keep a good balance between rewarding shareholders and deployment of capital for big ticket corporate finance transactions, he explained.

Amortisation costs rose from Ush15.3 billion ($4 million) in December 2023 to Ush15.5 billion ($4.2 million) in December 2024, a consequence of new investments made in software tools required for the upgrade of digital transaction platforms that include online banking and the Flexipay platform, according to internal sources.

Net trading income grew from Ush270 billion ($73.2 million) to Ush304.2 billion ($82.4 million) during the same period under review.

SHUL declared a full year dividend of Ush3.13 ($0.0009) per share for 2024. Its share price closed at Ush48 ($0.013) on 24th March after the release of its full year results.

The company’s share price opened trading on 25th March 2025 at Ush46 ($0.012) and closed at Ush46 ($0.012) on the same day, USE records indicated.

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