Absa Group Limited, Barclays Kenya’s parent company, today reported an increase in earnings and income for the first half of 2018 and underscored its commitment to growth in Africa.
Absa Group, previously known as Barclays Africa Group, said headline earnings rose 3% to R8 billion (about US$608 million) in the first half of the year compared with the same period in 2017. Income increased by 3% to R37 billion (about US$2.8 billion).
Absa says its earnings included 1.4 billion Rand ($104.90 million) costs related to its separation from Britain’s Barclays which now focuses on its home market and the United States.
Absa Group Chief Executive Officer, Maria Ramos says the Group’s ambition to double its share of banking revenues in Africa to 12 per cent and said Absa is making progress on its innovation journey and in becoming a digitally-led bank.
In Kenya, Barclays 130 Bank Kenya launched ‘Timiza’ an app-based personal loans platform in March which has grown remarkably since launch reaching the 2 million mark in just over 4 months.
Absa launched ChatBanking on WhatsApp banking and Samsung Pay as new propositions for its South Africa retail business this year. Uptake particularly in WhatsApp banking has exceeded expectation with more than 10 000 customers registering for ChatBanking on WhatsApp within the first 20 days of launching in July.
