Barclays Bank of Kenya Ltd has made public its financial performance for the first nine months (Q3) of the year with net earnings dropping by 12 percent to Sh 5.33 Billion compared to Sh 6.06 billion posted in a similar period last year.
Total income fell by 8% to Sh 22.6 billion while total interest income fell by 4.6% to Sh 20.13 Billion. Non interest income fell significantly by 15% to Sh 6.5 Billion as interest expense declined by 6.3% to Sh 3.9 Billion.
The lender blamed harsh economic conditions, political uncertainties and the impact of interest rates caps which came into law in September 2016.
Over the period, loans and advances to customers grew by 5.3% to Sh 167.2 Billion while customer deposits also increased by 11% to Sh 200 Billion. The bank said the growth in deposits was mainly driven by transactional accounts which accounted for 71% of the deposits up from 61% in the previous period.
However, Gross non performing loans increased by 14.6% to Sh 11.9 Billion from Sh 10.4 Billion in the same period a year ago.
“This year has presented us with a multiplicity of challenges on the macro-economic and political fronts which have had a direct impact on our revenues. The prolonged electoral period has presented a climate of uncertainty which has been challenging for businesses whilst the interest rates law continues to undermine our interest income. We are however optimistic that both of these situations will be resolved soon,” said Jeremy Awori, Managing Director, Barclays Bank of Kenya.
