Ahadu Bank, one of the late entrants in the banking industry, has announced a net loss of 267.7 million birr for its inaugural fiscal year ending in 2022/23.
The young institution entered Ethiopia's banking sector in July 2022, almost a decade after many of its competitors. As a new player working to establish itself, Ahadu Bank faced significant challenges.
At its second annual general meeting this week, management provided details of the bank's performance. Total revenue for the startup's first 12 months came in at 146.5 million birr from various sources, according to the report. Ahadu Bank also pulled in 414 million birr from deposit interest.
However, expenses ate away at earnings. As a business building out infrastructure from scratch, Ahadu Bank spent heavily on salaries and benefits during the launch phase - a major factor in the loss.
Additional figures show paid-up capital reached 672.6 million birr by year's end. Deposits and foreign holdings increased the fledgling bank's coffers to over 2 billion birr and 21.6 million USD respectively within the first 12 months.
Total assets hit 3.1 billion birr, with debt accounting for 84.2% and equity the remainder. Ahadu Bank now runs 75 branches nationwide, supported by more than 10,000 individual shareholders. It also disbursed 924.7 million birr in loans over the period.