LONDON (Alliance News) - Atlas Mara Ltd, the African banking group co-founded by former Barclays PLC boss Robert Diamond and entrepreneur Ashish Thakkar, said it swung to net profit in the first half as a result of higher net interest income and a considerable drop in impairments.
Net profit amounted to USD4.1 million in the six months to the end of June, compared with a USD17.3 million net loss the corresponding half the prior year. Net interest income edged up to USD49.4 million from USD47.4 million, while impairments fell to USD6.1 million from USD17.2 million.
"We expect the latter half of the year to show improvement over the first half of the year," Chief Executive John Vitalo said in a statement.
Atlas Mara said it is open to making further acquisitions, with negotiations to complete the purchase of a "substantial stake" in Banque Populaire du Rwanda ongoing. Its existing operations and investments include Union Bank of Nigeria, BancABC headquartered in Botswana, and BRD Commercial in Rwanda.
"In addition to seeking scale in our existing countries of operation, we expect to be present in 10-15 markets, in total, in the medium-term. In terms of client segmentation, we have identified meaningful under-banked markets in retail and corporate banking across our identified target geographies and the products and services roadmap required to compete effectively in our chosen segments," Vitalo said.
Shares in Atlas Mara were up 0.3% at USD5.74 on Thursday morning in London.
By Samuel Agini; samagini@alliancenews.com; @samuelagini
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