Malawi Housing Corporation roars back to profit under Chimkango

Malawi Housing Corporation (MHC), the state-owned property and housing body, has returned to profitability in the first quarter of the 2026/2027 financial year, in what management is presenting as a significant milestone in the institution’s long-running financial recovery.

On the corporation’s operational performance measure, the result marks MHC’s first profitable quarter since 2019, according to chief executive Bob Chimkango, who has previously said the corporation’s last profitable year was followed by sustained cash-flow pressure and mounting losses.

The improvement is being framed within the corporation as an early, tangible outcome of the current policy direction under President Peter Mutharika, ministerial oversight from Chimwemwe Chipungu, Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, and a programme of management reforms Chimkango has been implementing since taking over the institution.

The result lands as the Mutharika administration pushes a broader agenda of improving the performance of state-owned enterprises, part of a wider effort to strengthen public institutions and extract greater economic value from government-held assets, many of which have struggled with weak balance sheets and operational inefficiencies for years.

MHC’s return to profit, if sustained, would represent a notable turnaround for an institution that has featured prominently in discussions about the financial health of Malawi’s parastatal sector.

Analysts will be watching subsequent quarters closely to determine whether the improvement reflects durable operational gains, such as stronger rental income, improved cost control or debt restructuring, or whether it is driven by one-off factors that may not recur.

The corporation has not yet disclosed detailed line-item figures behind the quarterly result, including revenue, operating costs or the specific drivers of the swing into profit.