Stanbic Bank Botswana has no immediate plans to list on the Botswana Stock Exchange, bank Chief Executive, Leina Gabaraane, has revealed.
Gabaraane told this publication that they don’t have an appetite to list on the local bourse as the current situation does not attract them to do so.
“As we stand now there is no immediate plan to list. There are many factors that we need to consider before listing and none of them has met our requirements. One of them is to raise capital and we don’t need to raise capital,” said Gabaraane.
He said the bank was performing well on the local financial service market and will continue to do so without listing. “We believe that our contribution to the financial services sector in Botswana continues to be in existence and will continue and we don’t need to do it through listing,” he explained. He said listing on the stock exchange is important and this is why their bonds are listed on the BSE.
Listing on the stock exchange is said to be the best platform for citizens to participate in the businesses operating in the country through buying shares. There has been calls by some analysts for the bank to float its shares on the BSE, with emphasis placed on its market share. Even the central bank has also made similar calls.
“Unlike its peers, Stanbic is not listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange. The non-existence of the bank on the domestic bourse could be misinterpreted to mean lack of long-term commitment and willingness to have the Botswana public participate in the ownership of the bank,” said Bank of Botswana Governor, Moses Pelaelo.
He was speaking at the bank event to market its 25 years of existence in Botswana some few months ago. Ben Kruger, the co-Chief Executive of parent company, Standard Bank has told Botswana Guardian before that the time is not ripe for the bank to go public.
Stanbic bank is a member of the Standard Bank Group, the largest bank in Africa by assets. The bank is one of the largest and best performing commercial banks in Botswana. In its annual report for 2016, the financial institution recorded a profit after tax of up to 48 percent at P195 million.
The CEO said despite the closure of businesses, threats of closure and the challenges in the agriculture sector in the country, the bank still performed well. They recorded above budget profit and double digit year-on-year growth.
Stanbic Bank provides the full spectrum of financial services and operates within the two divisions namely the Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) and Personal and Business Banking (PBB).
In Botswana, the bank employs over 600 workers and has a national footprint of 10 branches. Last year the bank successfully launched a new three year ‘Road To Excellence’ strategy aimed at enabling and positioning the bank as the market leader.