The bank, however, still faces a big challenge of addressing NPLs Aran Bank pre-tax profit ‘doubles’ in second quarter ABL financial report for the ‘second quarter of 2019 shows that the profit is attributable to an increase in net interest income Gadiosa _ ede Hlamtayeiznationmedia.com Dar es Salaam. Azania Bank 1Ltd(ABL)spre-taxprofitclimbed to Sha. billion during the second quarter of this year, which ended in June, as compared to ShL.7bil- lion recorded during the same period last year. "ABLs quarterly financial state- ment for the second quarter of 2019, which was published yes- terday, shows that the profit is attributable to an inerease of net interest income to Shi78 billion from Sh92billion. However, non-interest expens- es increased to Shi59 billion in the second quarter from Sh8.8 billion in the corresponding peri- od of 2018. Despite doubling its profit, the bank is facing the challenge of addressing non-performing loans (NPLs). ‘The NPLs soared to Sh2985 billion from Sh24.8 billion in the same period this ‘Azania Bank Limited managing director Charles Itembe. 010 year ‘The bank performance in the first quarter contravened regula tions laid down by the Bank of ‘Tanzania (BoT), which requires banks to maintain a below five percent NPL ratio, Speaking to The Citizen the bank’s managing director, Charles Itembe, said the increase CofNPLs was down to the acquisi- tion of defunct Bank M assets, which was under statutory man- ‘agement for nine months. He said during the period under the statutory management Effective use of facilities and accounts will certainly improve the NPLs ratio in the near future ITEMBE | DIRECTOR Bank M was not operational, hence transactions (payments and eollections) were literally not active for more than 270 days, Which led to an increase of NPL, something which was. “We are looking forward to making an improvement after reaching some agreements with stakeholders. The effective use of facilities and accounts will cer- tainly improve the NPLs ratio in thenear future,” he said