Dashen Bank Catalogues Unprecedented Profit Despite Return Of Forex Troubles

Dashen Bank finished the fiscal year with record profits despite registering foreign exchange losses for the fifth time in the past six years. The bank’s latest financial report highlights more than 6.68 billion Birr in profit before tax as Dashen prepares to issue 2.2 million new shares to its existing shareholders.

Last fiscal year saw Dashen, one of the country’s largest private commercial banks, surpass the 200 billion Birr mark in terms of assets and deposits, which surged to 254 billion and 202 billion, respectively.

Led by President Asfaw Alemu, the bank saw its total revenue climb to 31.4 billion Birr, up more than 33 percent year-on-year, while expenses spiked by a similar margin to 24.7 billion Birr, according to Dashen’s audited financial statement for 2024/25.

The bank’s paid-up capital grew by more than 2.3 billion Birr to 14.33 billion Birr over the reporting period, and the report lauds progress in digital banking. Dashen rolled out more than 200 point-of-sale (PoS) terminals during the reporting period, growing its network to more than 2,170 machines.

Its mobile banking application garnered more than 700,000 users in 2024/25, bringing the total subscriber base to 2.63 million, according to the annual report.

In his message to shareholders, Asfaw lauded 2025 as “a year that once again demonstrated our resilience and continued success amid challenging conditions.”

The government’s forex reforms enacted at the start of the 2024/25 fiscal year likely constitute part of the conditions the President is referring to.

Dashen incurred more than 2.4 billion Birr in foreign exchange losses last year, marking a return to the forex troubles that haunted its performances between 2019 and 2023. The report indicates the bank’s management opted to revise its forex denominated assets valuation method from mid-rate to selling rate as it is “of the view that the selling rate better reflects the realizable value of these assets.”

Using the previous valuation method, last year’s losses would have amounted to three billion Birr.

All in all, Dashen has reported more than 5.1 billion Birr in cumulative forex losses over the past six years.

Despite the losses, Dashen’s shareholders can savor impressive earnings per share of more than 45 percent.

Last month, the bank published a prospectus detailing plans to offer more than 2.2 million new ordinary shares to existing shareholders. At 2,900 Birr per share, the offering will likely see its paid-up capital rise from the current 14.3 billion Birr to nearly 21 billion Birr.