MKOMBOZI Commercial Bank (MKCB) plans to raise capital through selling shares under a right issue campaign that will last for one month.

The lender, listed on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) alternative market, wants to raise 15.4bn/- under the right issue campaign. Mkombozi Bank was listed on DSE six years ago.

MKCB Chairperson of the Board of Directors, Prof Marcelina Chijoriga, said bank had put on offer 20,615,272 new shares to existing shareholders under “renounceable rights”.

“Each additional share will be sold to all shareholders who were on shareholders’ records on 10.11.2020,” Prof Chijoriga said through a statement availed to ‘Daily News’. 

The bank said under the one-month campaign a share would be sold at 750/- which was 25 per cent discounted. However, the lender’s shares were sold at 780/- on DSE yesterday. 

The right issue offers one extra share to every existing share, meaning a ratio of one to one (1:1).

The chairperson said the purpose of selling shares to existing shareholders was to increase the lender’s capital and facilitate investment in the expansion of banking services through the opening of branches, investment in information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure.

MKCB had a capital of 9.37bn/- at the end of last November, which was not sufficient to warrant business expansion.

Currently, the bank, which the Catholic Church is the majority shareholders, boosts a market capitalisation of 16.08bn/-. Its shares are hardly trades on the exchange.

It has a healthy balance sheet of 220bn/- while customer deposits amounted to 180bn/- at the end of November last year. 

Prof Chijoriga said the bank aimed at providing quality financial services to all sectors of the economy in a sustainable and responsible manner in society to meet customer expectations.

MCKB operates in eight regions with 11 branches - four branches are in Dar es Salaam and one each in Kilimanjaro, Morogoro, Iringa, Njombe, Mwanza, Kagera and Dodoma regions.

The bank wants to expand business and reach out to more customers, especially in rural areas.