Bank of Uganda has issued a warning to all Ugandans especially those banking with Crane Bank ltd to avoid a misleading message which has been making rounds on social media that they should withdraw their money by next week.
Howwebiz also received a message reading “If you know anyone with money in Crane Bank, tell them to remove it.......within the next week. Insider Bou.”
However, Bank of Uganda has also issued a statement regarding the same matter saying “Messages circulating on Whatsapp instructing depositors to withdraw their money from Crane Bank were not issued by BoU.”
The statement adds that;
It has been brought to our attention that messages have been circulating on Whatsapp instructing depositors to withdraw their money from Crane Bank within the next week. We wish to categorically state that these messages were not issued by Bank of Uganda.
The shareholders of commercial banks have the option of selling shares to new investors as they deem appropriate. However, any new investor in a commercial bank must satisfy the regulator that they are fit and proper. The BoU does not comment on any negotiations to sell shares in a bank while these negotiations are ongoing.
BoU monitors closely all commercial banks in Uganda and any actions which it takes are motivated primarily by the objective of protecting the best interests of banks’ depositors.
Crane Bank 2015- Key Performance Indicators.
At an asset base of Shs1.79 trillion (December 2015), Crane Bank is the 4th biggest bank, controlling 4% market share.
Although the bank made a loss of Shs3.1 billion, the bank performed well on all other other fundamentals. It was also the No.4 biggest lender with Shs971.4 billion in loans and controlling 9.24% of the credit market.
The Bank grew its deposits by 5.45 per cent to UGX 1,336,606 million acquiring approximately 61,000 new accounts. The Bank as of December 2015 audited accounts, was the No.5 biggest in customer deposits, controlling 8.5% market share.
Robust income performance. Net Operating income, grew by 4.3 per cent reflecting strong revenue growth. Interest income grew by 9.4 per cent driven by increase in Loans and Advances.
Robust capital ratios. Capital adequacy stands at 16.41 per cent and Core capital ratio stands at 15.74 per cent. Crane Banks paid up capital stands at UGX 210 billion as against the BOU requirements of UGX 25 billion.
