Government gets Sh45.8 billion CRDB dividend
What you need to know:
- The bank’s shareholders approved a total dividend of Sh117.5 billion during its Annual General Meeting which was held in Arusha last month
Dar es Salaam. The government has received Sh45.8 billion from CRDB Bank as its dividend, thanks to a rise in the lender’s profitability in 2022.
At the group level, CRDB Bank’s net profit rose by 31 percent last year to reach Sh351.4 billion, compared to Sh268.2 recorded in 2021.
The bank’s shareholders approved a total dividend of Sh117.5 billion during its Annual General Meeting (AGM) which was held in Arusha last month.
This represents a roughly 25 percent increase over the Sh94 billion total dividend the bank paid its shareholders last year from its 2021 net profit.
The bank’s shareholders will receive a dividend per share of Sh45 this year, up from last year’s Sh36.
And over the weekend, the Finance and Planning minister, Dr Mwigulu Nchemba, received the government’s share of the money from by the bank’s board of director’s chairman, Dr Ally Laay.
The government owns a 21 percent stake in CRDB Bank Plc through the Danida Investment Fund.
Speaking at the handover ceremony, Dr Nchemba commended the bank for raising its profitability level in 2022.
“The increase in dividend is an indication that the CRDB Bank is getting stronger and stronger due to its keen business strategies,” observed Dr Nchemba.
Dr Nchemba said the money received as dividend from the bank will be invested in the government’s projects upon approval of the 2023/24 Financial Year budget.
The minister exuded his optimism that with the current bank’s performance trend, the government will receive a larger amount of dividend next year.
During the first quarter of this year, the bank garnered Sh90 billion in profit after tax.
“If you keep the momentum going, we will next year receive a fatter dividend than this year’s,” Dr Nchemba expressed his optimism.
He urged other institutions of which the government has shares, to follow the CRDB’s footsteps.
CRDB managing director Abdulmajid Nsekela said a growth in the shareholders’ investment value was triggered by the achievement that the bank has recorded in the course of the implementation of its 2018 – 2022 Medium-Term Business Strategy.
Under the period of review the bank’s profit rose by 875 percent, according to Mr Nsekela.
“As a result, under the period of reference, the bank paid tax to the government amounting to Sh1.1 trillion,” he asserted.
