* Profit after tax reaches $5.3 million
* Group paid $22.5 million to Meikles at demerger
* Targets entry into South Africa
By Alfonce Mbizwo
HARARE, March 30 (Reuters) - Zimbabwean financial services group Kingdom Bank posted a return to full-year profit on Wednesday after splitting from Meikles Africa Limited and said it plans to re-list on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) and raise funds for regional expansion.
Kingdom, which has units in Malawi and Botswana, split from Meikles in October last year and ceded $22.5 million to Meikles as part of an agreement preceding the demerger.
The two firms, which were both listed on the ZSE, merged in 2007 to create KMAL but boardroom squabbles led to the break-up of the union.
Nigel Chanakira, a director of Kingdom, told Reuters the company planned to relist on the ZSE "as quickly as possible" and will seek shareholder approval at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) set for next month.
"The demerger from KMAL has given us the chance to innovate and we have a number of products that we will launch during the year," he said.
Kingdom plans to expand into South Africa but needed to recapitalise.
"We need money to recapitalise and we are looking at raising it from both the domestic and foreign markets," Chanakira told Reuters in an interview.
The EGM will also decide the extent of recapitalisation required by the group, Chanakira said.
Kingdom's profit after tax reached $5.3 million for the period to 31 December 2010 from a loss of $1.1 million the previous year. (Editing by Gugulakhe Lourie and Jon Loades-Carter)