SBM of Mauritius Quarterly Profit Declines as Impairments Rise

(Bloomberg) -- The owner of the second-biggest bank in Mauritius anticipates squeezed margins and asset-quality ratios to worsen after profit declined due to increased impairment charges.

Nine-month attributable profit fell to 825.2 million rupees ($20.6 million) from a restated amount of 1.48 billion rupees mainly because of impairment charges of 2.7 billion rupees, SBM Holdings Ltd. said in a statement emailed by the Stock Exchange of Mauritius.

Third-quarter profit declined 42% to 150.3 million rupees from a year ago as provisions for bad loans grew.

Net interest income in the quarter advanced to 1.78 billion rupees from 1.63 billion rupees. Credit losses for the period rose to 992.2 million rupees from 375.5 million rupees.

“The operating environment continues to be challenging with high levels of uncertainty which make it difficult to assess the full impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in the geographies we operate,” said Sattar Hajee Abdoula, chairman of SBM Holdings.

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