CFSL Integrated Report 2022

CIM FINANCE. INTEGRATED REPORT 2022 | 19 Interview with th Chairperson The theme of this year’s report is ‘Building resilience’,which isevidencedbyCimFinance’s strongperformancefor theyear.Whatexplains Cim Finance’s ability to rise above challenges even in uncertain times? It givesme great pleasure to introduce CimFinance’s integrated report for the financial year ended 30 September 2022, which offers an overview of how our organisation once again proved its mettle. By natureof CimFinance’s activities, we are continually operating somewhere on the crisis spectrum. No business in our industry can survive without a high degree of resilience, which I define as the ability to not just hold the fort in times of tremendous pressure, but also to continue creating business and stakeholder value. This past year, we have lived through a great example of Cim’s capacity to do both. We recentred ourselves on our core expertise and bolstered our organisational strength in all aspects of the business; simultaneously, we captured strategic opportunities that will enable us to better serve our customers and reinforce our stance as a purposeful business. Resilience cannot be built overnight or through one-off actions; instead, it is the outcome of many years of conscientious decisions to channel resources into the right people, processes and systems, and above all, to never waver fromone’s purpose and values. In my four and a half years as Chairperson of Cim Finance, I have proudly borne witness to the Group’s commitment to its purpose and duty, come rain or shine. Looking back at the accomplishments of the past year, there is no doubt in my mind that Cim Finance’s role stretches beyond its lending and financing capabilities—which, to be sure, have been critical in seeing businesses and households through the crisis. Time and time again, the Group has remained anchored in its 35-yearstrong legacy of caring deeply for others, uplifting lives and helping people realise their dreams. In my humble opinion, herein lies our resilience. What underlying macroeconomic and market trends influenced Cim Finance’s performance during the year under review? Over the past financial year, the effects of the pandemic continued to roil theworld and the global economy. Mauritius, for its part, continued tooperate in a very volatile socioeconomic environment. On the one hand, the tourism sector remained at a standstill until October 2021, with adverse ripple effects across many other industries. On the other hand, we saw encouraging signs of recovery in construction, financial services and manufacturing, with businesses learning how to adapt to the ebbs and flows of supply chain challenges and consumer demand. Whilst we emerged safely froma sanitary crisis, it was only to be facedwith rising inflation and thewar inUkraine, both of which are causing food and commodity prices to escalate and are likely to further threaten employment and livelihoods. Amid this maelstrom, Cim Finance maintained its positive growth momentum and delivered an excellent financial performance. Our figures, shared in greater detail by our Group CEO in his interview, speak for themselves. This has enabled us to continue creating long-term value for our shareholders through sound returns. The Board declared a final dividend of MUR 0.24 per share for the financial year, a healthy pay out given the operating environment.

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