SBN Holdings Limited has posted a 10.1% year-on-year increase in profit to N$556.9 million for the six months ended 30 June 2025, driven by loan growth, higher fee income and tighter cost management, even as lower interest rates squeezed lending margins.
The Namibian banking group, which operates Standard Bank Namibia, reported return on equity of 20.3%, up from 18.6% a year earlier, and said its cost-to-income ratio improved to 54.4% from 54.9%.
Net interest income climbed 2.9% to N$1.1 billion, helped by an 8.9% increase in loans and advances to customers and an 18.4% rise in other interest-earning assets.
SBN said lending activity “commenced slower than anticipated, which limited the impact on average balances”, and that a cumulative 100 basis point reduction in the repo rate “contributed to margin compression during the period”.
Non-interest revenue rose 3.6% to N$792.7 million, supported by higher transaction volumes and stronger digital uptake, offsetting a 13.8% fall in trading income from a stable currency market, lower yields on short-term placements and the absence of one-off gains from the prior year.
Credit impairments fell 21.8% as non-performing loan inflows dropped 46% on average per month, bringing the credit loss ratio down to 0.5% from 0.7%. The NPL ratio improved to 3.7% from 4.7% at year-end 2024.
Operating expenses rose 2.1% to N$1 billion, below Namibia’s 3.5% inflation rate, with higher staff costs offset by a 6.8% drop in IT spending and a 4.6% reduction in other operating costs.
Customer deposits increased 3.6% to N$29.7 billion, led by double-digit growth in term deposits and negotiable certificates of deposit, which the bank said added funding flexibility “albeit at a higher cost.”
The group ended the half with a capital adequacy ratio of 17.3% and a common equity tier 1 ratio of 15.3%, both above regulatory requirements, and said liquidity coverage remained well over the minimum.
