Zemen Bank boosts total capital to 400 mln birr
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – Zemen Bank announced on Thursday that it had finalized its capital increase for the fiscal year, having sold close to 200 million birr in shares during the two-month period from January 15 to March 15.
The total capital of the bank has now reached 400 million birr, up from near 200 million birr last year. The sale of the Bank’s shares, which was reserved solely for existing shareholders, saw 350 million birr in demand for new Zemen Bank shares even though only 200 million birr had been put up for saleâ€â€equivalent to a 175 percent over-subscription of the amount of shares put up for sale.
The funds raised in the just completed capital raising exercise will be used to support the bank’s growth in all operational segments. In this regard, the Bank noted that its deposit base in the first nine months of the current fiscal year was already up 42 percent and had passed 2.5 billion birr, all mobilized from a single main branch. Loans and investments had risen 39 percent over the same period, reaching close to 2 billion birr at the end of March 2013. Building upon a record in attracting foreign exchange inflows from exporters and foreign investors, the bank’s forex inflows are up 70 percent so far this year. Supported by these operational achievements and in line with the record of recent years, the bank expects to deliver another strong set of financial results for the fiscal year. Read more
