Embattled Dfcu Bank registers 45% fall in profits as shareholders get zero dividends

The DFCU Bank could be headed for a hostile takeover after registering the worst performance last year after the Board earlier this month suggested that no profits should be extended to the shareholders in the wake of enlisting a drop in profits of Shs11 billion last year.

The DFCU Bank General Manager George Ochom said the board saw it wise not to dispense any dividends to shareholders so that it can keep the financial institution with enough liquidity to deal with any possible emergency.

According to Mathias Katamba, the Chief Executive Officer of Dfcu, profits tumbled from Shs24 billion to Shs13 billion when compared with the previous years. The drop in profits according to him has been attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic that crashed economies and businesses across the globe.

“DFCU bank like some other players in the market experienced a drop in profitability by 45% in 2021. However, the bank posted most of its income from earnings on interest on loans, but almost experienced a wipeout of this income due to provisioning for bad loans that accrued in the wake of the Covid 19 crisis,” Katamba said.

The shareholders of DFCU bank include Arise BV (58.70%), Investment Fund for Developing Countries (9.97%), National Social Security Fund of Uganda (7.46%) and Kimberlite Frontier Africa Naster Fund (7.3%).

Unlike DFCU, some of its rivals managed to register growth in profits last year.

Stanbic Uganda Holdings Limited (SUHL) reported that it grew its net profits by 11% in 2021 to procure Shs269 billion from Shs 242billion in 2020, driven by rapid growth in non-interest income earned by mostly Stanbic Bank Uganda Limited, its anchor subsidiary.