KCB Group CEO & MD, Joshua Oigara, KCB Group Chairman, Andrew Kairu (C) and KCB Group CFO, Lawrence Kimathi (R) during the bank’s half year results announcement at the Nairobi Serena Hotel on August 19, 2021. The lender’s half year profit doubled to Sh 15.3 billion from Sh 7.6 billion a year ago. PHOTO | DIANA NGILA | NAIROBI Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Group has doubled its third quarter net profit to $225 million, largely driven by increased revenues from subsidiaries and reduction in loan loss expense.
The group’s loan book surged 12 percent to $6.41 billion on account of improved lending in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda while customer deposits increased 11 percent to $7.66 billion, largely due to organic growth in Kenya.
The group’s total revenues grew by 16 percent to $713.39 million, driven by increase in both interest on loans and government securities and non-interest income driven by increased fees and commissions on banking transactions and foreign exchange trading.
The regional lender, which is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), also maintains that its strategic plan for the Ethiopian market remains in place, despite the political turmoil in the Horn of Africa country. Concerns over Ethiopia
“We stand very strongly with our colleagues and our brothers and sisters in Ethiopia because of the difficulties we are seeing today. I also have staff in Ethiopia who are still operating, but I know Ethiopia is more resilient to this kind of difficulty. We are confident that our business will overcome the challenges we see,” the group’s chief executive Joshua Oigara told The EastAfrican in an interview
He added: "So with these short-term challenges, I am confident that Ethiopia will overcome because they have been more resilient in the past. As it is, our opportunities in that market will remain despite the current challenges.”
Its stock on the NSE rose by 1.68 percent to $0.4 per share on November 18 from $0.39 the previous day as investors digested news about the lender’s performance and the proposed dividend payment. The lender’s profit after tax for the nine months period to September 30 jumped to $225 million from $97.32 million in the same period last year, with regional subsidiaries contributing 21 percent of the earnings.
KCB’s subsidiaries are in Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan and a representative office in Ethiopia. These subsidiaries, including National Bank of Kenya which was acquired by KCB in 2019, doubled […]
