On behalf of the Board of Directors I am pleased to present the 2019 Zanaco Plc Annual Report to this Annual General Meeting.
As I reflected on the past year, something felt different about it. I was struck throughout the year about how resilient and adaptive our Bank has been over the five decades of its existence. We reached a milestone, our 50th anniversary; a celebration of a half century of ably providing financial services and strongly embracing innovation. From a small Bank on Cairo Road in October 1969 all the way through to 2019 recording market firsts in introducing Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), debit cards, mobile banking and Quick Response (QR) codes and being one of the leading banks that Zanaco has become, is confirmation of how far and extraordinary the journey has been.
Financial performance
The Bank’s performance was exceptional in the midst of economic challenges. Despite the impact of the regulatory restriction on unwarranted fees, total revenue grew by 11%: and the Bank remained resilient. This was mainly attributed to the uptake of cutting edge and innovative solutions by our clients which saw incremental growth in fees and commissions.
Trading income grew by an impressive 328% from K40.3 million in 2018 to K172.8 million in 2019.
Board Changes
The Board continued to focus on ensuring the right balance of skills, experience and knowledge including a deliberate emphasis on having 50/50 gender balance. In the year under review, Mrs. Chearyp Mkandawire-Sokoni joined the Board and not only adds the much sought after professional and financial experience, but also enhanced gender representation. This resulted in 38% female representation. The intention is to have 50% representation by end of 2020.
Appreciation
The Board of Directors would like to thank Mr Henk Mulder, the Chief Executive Officer, the Management Board and all the staff for their performance in 2019 and especially their commitment to transforming Zanaco. It is their hard work, alignment with the Bank strategy and dedication that enabled the Bank to deliver exceptional performance in 2019. We also want to thank you, our shareholders, for your continued support, confidence and above all trust. Rest assured that our passion and commitment for the efficient and profitable provision of financial services will continue to drive the sustainable and profitable initiatives to drive Zanaco to be the market leader in efficiency and revenue generation.
Finally, my own deepest thanks go to the Board of Directors for their commitment to Zanaco Plc and the strong support rendered to the Management and staff. In 2019 the Board ably supported Management to record an increase of 58% in earnings, attain second place in revenue growth which grew by 18%, and to stay on course in the ambitious restructuring of both the business and operations.
“Zanaco has everything to succeed and…sooner than later, it will paint the sky red with the words: “Big. Strong. Reliable.”
God Bless us all.
Charity Chanda Lumpa
CHAIRMAN
Related download
Zanaco 2019 Annual report.pdf
