Equity Bank has been ranked as the most stable lender in Kenya both in terms of revenue and asset growth by the prestigious Africa Business Magazine.
The ranking based on the 2020 end year financial results acknowledged the lender’s asset growth which hit over Sh1 trillion, becoming the first bank to reach such margins in East and Central Africa.
Equity’s total assets are valued at Sh1.015 trillion, followed by KCB Group at Sh987.8 billion. NCBA Bank is third with total assets as of December 31, 2020, standing at Sh527.6 billion followed by Co-op Bank at Sh464.5 billion.
Even so, KBC has the highest primary funding strength, with Tier 1 capital at 18 per cent.
Under Basel III, a bank’s tier 1 and tier 2 assets must be at least 10.5 per cent of its risk-weighted assets, up from eight per cent under Base.
This despite the bank’s results for the year ended December 31, 2020, dropping 12 per cent to Sh20.1 billion compared to Sh22.6 billion the previous year on Covid-19 economic pressure.
The drop has attributed to a high loan loss provision which grew five-folds, with restructured loans hitting Sh171 billion or 32 per cent of the total loan book.
Despite that, the bank recorded the highest revenue growth among tier 1 banks in Kenya at 16 per cent, followed by Co-operative Bank at 10 per cent. NCBA Bank had revenue growth of six per cent, KCB five per cent while DTB and Absa Group reported one per cent.
Equity Bank also emerged top among the top eight lenders in the country in terms of net loan growth which rose 13 per cent, dwarfing KCB’s 10 per cent, Absa seven per cent and Co-op Bank at six per cent.
Stanbic Bank Kenya and DTB tied at four per cent while the rest reported negative growth.
Tier 1 capital is a bank’s core capital and includes disclosed reserves—that appears on the bank’s financial statements—and equity capital. .