@kenyainvestor @mainat. I'm sold on profitability... with interest margins at those levels... one doesn't need convincing. I think just as policy i can't invest in a company i don't understand. I would like to think most banks make the crucial adjustments in Q4 once they're audited and hiring of diaspora... i remember JM did fire a number of phds and smart chaps before.

Maybe the nature of their business is hard to grasp. They charge high rates for loans, pay almost nothing to deposits. Loans are short term i guess (perhaps averaging 9 months) and they pay crappy salaries by the look of salaries to income (or it's skewed). So I'm wondering why NPLs aren't higher.

Is the default risk lower for microfinance lending, whereas corporate banks have larger exposures? What is the consumer portion of their loan book? I remember a large portion of bad debt provisions last year was because of the Ugandan subsidiary. Do they have an excellent collection policy? Did they book losses on their bond book when they reclassified it? I'm just thinking out loud. I'd appreciate your input.