Stanbic Bank Uganda's 2022 pretax profit up 37%

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Stanbic Bank Uganda reported a 37.5% jump in pretax profit for last year, boosted by a surge in customer deposits and credit, results published on Wednesday showed.

The bank, a unit of South African's Standard Bank Group and Uganda's largest bank by assets, earned 483 billion shillings ($127.78 million) in profits before tax, compared with 351.2 billion shillings in the previous year, the company said.

Customer deposits expanded by 7% while loans grew by 10% in the year, helping drive interest income, the results showed.

The bank, which is listed on Uganda's local stock exchange, is proposing to pay out dividends worth 235 billion shillings, up 370% year-on-year.

Andrew Mashanda, chief executive of Stanbic Uganda Holdings, the bank's parent company, said the lender would focus on managing costs prudently in 2023.

($1 = 3,780.0000 Ugandan shillings)

(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Hereward Holland and Louise Heavens)