"The increase in operating expenses is attributed to our accelerated investment as the bank spends on service delivery training and customer channels. During the period, the bank opened a new branch at Airport Junction Mall. We also opened a 24-hour full service call centre - the only one in the market," said the bank in a statement that accompanied the results.
Driven by a healthy 11 percent rise in interest income as the loan book grew by 8 percent to P4.5 billion, Standard Chartered's operating income rose from P419 million to P433 million. Loans and advances to other banks rose significantly from P129 million to P920 million.
In an attempt to manage liquidity, in a market that has to deal with an extra P5 billion due to the central bank's open market operations interventions, Standard Chartered Bank say they have taken a strategic decision to cut down on deposits.
The Bank of Botswana late last year moved to constrain Bank of Botswana Certificates (BoBCS) to P10 billion from as high as P15 billion in 2010,stressing their cost and the need for banks to innovate "alternative bankable projects."
"Deposits from non-bank customers reduced by 19 percent to P7.3 billion, as a result a strategic action to manage excess liquidity and reduced margins. On the other hand corporate and institutional deposits in the first half of the year recorded a 31 percent decrease. The intervention of the central bank late last year resulted in excess liquidity and up to a 200 basis points reduction in rates," read the statement.
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