Kenya’s biggest bank, Equity Group Holdings Plc has posted strong quarter one results showing a 54 per cent growth in total assets and 64 per cent in profit after tax.
The Group registered a balance sheet expansion of 54 per cent to reach Kshs 1.07 trillion driven by a 58 per cent growth in customer deposits underpinned by Kshs 140 billion shareholders’ funds.
A liquid balance sheet with Kshs 500 billion of cash, cash equivalents, and government securities reflecting the agility to redeploy funding seamlessly as the economies recover from the adverse impact of the Covid-19 multi-crisis.
Equity bank which operates in 7 African countries also saw a 31 per cent strong topline revenue growth in what appears to be a strong 2021 outlook for the bank amidst a multi-faceted financial crisis and disruptions brought about by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Interest income grew by 32 per cent while non-funded income grew by 30 per cent to contribute 42 per cent of total income. The bank’s regional subsidiaries registered resilience and robust growth to contribute 40 per cent of total deposits and total assets and 23 per cent of profit before tax with Rwanda and Uganda delivering above cost of capital returns.
Releasing the first quarter of 2021 financial results, Equity Group CEO, Dr James Mwangi attributed the profitable results to purposeful and deliberate strategy, saying the bank took advantage of consumers’ lifestyle changes that acted as a tailwind to human adoption of technology resulting in a change in consumer lives and behavior.
According to Mwangi, the Group changed its strategy to adopt focusing on inclusivity, affordability to the changing environment and executed a rapid business transformation that saw 98 per cent of all transactions being digital in count, and 65 per cent of volume by value.
"Over the last one year, we have witnessed firsthand as our customers adopted our mobile and internet technology channels on self-service devices making our financial services offering truly a 24-hour service and lifestyle," said Mwangi.
"The business has seized the moment and fast-tracked transformation by investing and deploying fintech capabilities of biodata, artificial intelligence, machine learning, analytics and algorithms to support customer personalized product and services, offering wide lifestyle capabilities and global reach and presence," added Mwangi.
Equity focused on social impact investment in health – investing over Kshs 1.7 billion in social response to society, forgoing Kshs 1.5 billion in waived mobile transaction fees, waiving Kshs 1.2 billion in loan […]