African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has reported an increase in its net income by four per cent to $87.3 million in its unaudited financial statements for the three months ended 31 March 2021, compared to $84 million recorded during the same period in 2020.
The Afreximbank’s latest financial report showed a strong and resilient growth, ahead of its year results and in line with expectations.
The breakdown of the report indicated that the Bank’s net income of $87.3 million was achieved largely due to 23 per cent growth in its net interest income.
Also, the increase in net interest income arose from a 41 per cent growth in net loans and advances and 11 per cent decline in interest expense.
The financial report also revealed that the bank’s total assets grew year-on-year by 30 per cent to $19.25 billion as at 31 March 2021, due to the implementation of the Pandemic Trade Impact Mitigation Facility (PATIMFA) with most of the facilities having been disbursed in the second half of 2020.
Although, the bank recorded a marginal decline in total assets from $19.31 billion stood as of 31st December 2020, which was primarily driven by slight decreases in Loans and Advances and Cash and cash equivalents.
However, the Bank’s shareholders’ funds increased by 2.64 per cent to $3.46 billion from the position of $3.37 billion recorded in December 2020, reflecting the support from existing investors and strong internal capital generation capacity.
Commenting on the bank’s latest financial performance, President of Afreximbank, Prof. Benedict Oramah said, “In the context of a global economy which has improved since the last quarter of 2020 with the successful roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines, we are pleased to have reported year-on-year growth in the first quarter of 2021 and closed the period in a healthy financial position with strong capital levels.”
Afreximbank has made significant progress in the implementation of its strategic initiatives and remains committed to promoting intra-African trade under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), on the basis of which trading commenced on 1 January 2021.