Standard Bank Mozambique, one of the three largest banks in Mozambique, reported that its profits fell 26% in 2025 to 4.5 billion meticais ($69.8 million), impacted by sovereign risk and a shortage of foreign currency.
According to a document cited by Lusa, in 2024 Standard Bank Mozambique’s net profits stood at 6.1 billion meticais ($96.8 million), the lowest level in three years, following 7.1 billion meticais ($112.7 million) in 2023 and 6.8 billion meticais ($107.9 million) in 2022.
In its annual report, the institution states that management proposed distributing 60% of 2025 profits as dividends to shareholders, equivalent to 2.7 billion meticais ($41.8 million).
The bank notes that, during the period under review, “it continued to demonstrate resilience in the face of significant challenges in 2025, but performance was primarily constrained by macroeconomic factors, such as high sovereign risk, the negative effects of falling interest rates, limited availability of foreign currency, and credit contraction.”
“Our results reflect the success of our strategy to build closer relationships with our customers. This allows us to respond to their needs proactively, which is essential to fulfilling our promise to support the ambitions that drive the country’s growth,” the bank adds, noting that “in line with expectations, return on equity (ROE) also fell to 17.7%.”
The document notes that, throughout 2025, the Bank of Mozambique reduced the MIMO benchmark interest rate by 325 basis points, ending the year at 9.5%. “The limited supply of foreign currency disrupted imports of intermediate goods, constrained private sector expansion, and reduced growth outside the extractive sector in Mozambique, with a direct impact on credit demand.”
Nevertheless, the bank emphasizes that the balance sheet showed signs of resilience, with total assets growing by 8.7% to 193.8 billion meticais ($3 billion), including 32.4 billion meticais ($502.3 million) in loans to customers, virtually unchanged from the previous year.
The deposit portfolio increased by 15.8%, reaching 139.5 billion meticais (US$2.1 billion), while total liabilities grew by 8.3% to 155.1 billion meticais (US$2.4 billion) at the end of the year.
Standard Bank Mozambique is a private bank established in 1967, headquartered in Maputo. Its parent company and majority shareholder is Stanbic Africa Holdings Limited, which holds 98.15% of the share capital and is wholly owned by the Standard Bank Group. The remaining 1.85% of the capital is held by minority shareholders.
