Awash Bank maintains its leading position in the private financial industry posting a record high profit boosted by a newly implemented management strategic plan.

The bank reported 1.4 billion Br in net profits during the last fiscal year, a 35pc increase from the preceding year. The rise in profit has led to an increase in shareholders return, 543 Br, and paid up capital of 2.9 billion Br.

Compared to its closest competitor, Dashen Bank, Awash's net profit exceeds Dashen's by 35pc. In the reporting period, Dashen Bank registered a net profit of 904 million Br. The third profitable bank in the country, Wegagen Bank, netted 793.5 million Br in profit.

The management strategy plan of the bank, developed by KPMG Management Consulting three years ago, played a great role for the bank in achieving the positive outcomes, according to Tsehay Shiferaw, Awash's president.

“With the road map, we identified the major challenges and opportunities," Tsehay told Fortune. "It helped us in outlining our focus areas such as investing in human resources, technology and service delivery."

Revenues at the bank have also increased. It has generated 830 million Br from fees and commissions and 151.6 million Br from other income.

However, the Bank's revenue from foreign exchange dealings decreased by 18pc to 224.6 million Br.

The public unrest in the country, the stringent regulations from the central bank and the severe forex crunch have caused the decline of earnings from foreign exchange, according to the president.

Last year the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) compelled all banks to cede 30pc of their forex to it at the buying rate.

"Despite the challenges, the Bank was successful in earning better forex dealings," said Tsehay.

A surge in expenses accompanied the income rise. Expenses including interest, operational and administrative cost have reached 3.4 billion Br, a 41pc rise.

Out of the total expense, interest expense took the lion's share and accounted for 1.4 billion Br, a 62pc increase from two years ago. Awash also spent 1.2 billion Br on personnel costs and 749.89 million Br on operating expenses.

Staff salary and benefit adjustment and branch expansion caused the surge in operating expenses, according to Tsehay.

Last year the Bank recruited 1,350 employees, bringing the total staff size to 7,881. The Bank also opened 50 new branches, which pushed the total number to 366.