Sasfin hopes new initiatives will offset rising costs
Company grew profit 60% to R80.5m. But the bank's cost-to-income ratio increased to 73.96%.
Sasfin is counting on its new acquisitions and digital platforms to generate enough revenue to reduce its operating costs to acceptable levels. The banking group's cost-to-income ratio – a measure of operating costs as a percentage of operating income – deteriorated to 73.96% from 70.4% in the first six months to December, higher than any of the big four banks in SA. The level of costs show how efficiently a bank is run. The more efficient it is, or the lower its cost-to-income ratio is, the more profitable it will be. Sasfin's costs were pushed up by its investments in new digital platforms and acquisitions. But CEO Michael Sassoon said even though there is pressure to contain costs, Sasfin is not planning to slow down. He said the bank needed new revenue streams to deliver better returns to shareholders in the long term. "We are not going to slow down our rate of investment. But as revenue from those initiatives peaks, our cost-to-income will improve," said Sassoon. In the review ...
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