Agriculture-focused lending institution, the Land Bank, planned to announce its new CEO by early September, chairperson Dr Ben Ngubane said on Monday.
The State-owned bank had been searching for a successor to Phakamani Hadebe after he announced in March last year that he would relinquish the post when his term of office came to an end.
Chief risk officer Lindiwe Mdlalose has served as acting CEO since December.
Speaking at the Land Bank’s year-end financial results, in Midrand, Ngubane said the recruitment process was being finalised and interviewees’ outcomes were being assessed before being presented to National Treasury for approval.
This comes as the Land Bank posted profit of R371.9-million for the year ended March 31, a 22.3% hike on the R304.1-million reported in the prior year.
The bank’s performing loan book had reached R33-billion in the year under review, up 24.5% on the loan book record of R26.5-billion last year.
Nonperforming loans narrowed from R1.38-billion in 2013 to R1.09-billion in 2014, which represented 3.2% of the loan book – a contraction on the 4.9% reported last year.
Ngubane said the Land Bank had undergone several turnarounds since 1994, with the bank now on a “steady growth path, with solid internal governance and risk management, skilled staff, a strong client base and a growing book of successful lending to emerging black farmers”.
In January, international ratings agency Fitch upgraded the Land Bank’s support-driven national long-term rating to aa+ from aa, which Fitch said, at the time, was owing to an “increased likelihood of support” from the State after the bank successfully mitigated several internal challenges over the past few years.