KCB Group Plc maintains its top position as the most profitable lender in Kenya.
Its financials for the nine months ending September 30th, 2019 indicate that its net profits increased to KSh 19.2 billion compared to KSh 18 billion recorded over a similar period last year.
Its closest rival Equity Group posted a net profit of KSh 17.46 billion from KSh 15.83 billion in September 2018.
KCB Group’s pre-tax profit rose from KSh 25.6 billion to KSh 27.2 billion, a 6% increase. The lender’s balance sheet grew in size from KSh 684.2 billion in September last year to KSh 764.3 billion in September 2019, a growth of 12 per cent.
Customer deposits rose from Sh526.8 billion in 2018 to Sh 586.7 billion in 2019, a growth of 11 per cent. Total interest income grew from KSh 49.2 billion to KSh 51.4 billion.
The portfolio of gross non-performing loans, a reflection of a weak economy, also ballooned to KSh 42.5 billion in September this year compared to KSh 34.8 billion in a similar period last year.
KCB Group Plc increased its loan loss provisions significantly to KSh 5.8 billion from KSh 1.8 billion in 2018.
Performance of its international business saw growth of 21 percent in subsidiaries’ loans and advances and 14 per cent growth in earnings.
KCB Group has subsidiaries in South Sudan, Burundi, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania. It also has a representative office in Ethiopia.
KCB South Sudan remains the fastest growing. It operations posted a 271 percent increase in profit before tax from KSh 109 million to KSh 404 million.
KCB Uganda made a pre-tax loss of KSh 90 million while KCB Tanzania profits before tax rose to KSh 713 million from KSh 586 million the previous year, a 22 percent jump.
The bank recently acquired National Bank through a share swap. KCB states that it has completed the reorganization of NBK board and is still looking at the management suite. Other work-in-progress includes the integration of workstreams between the two lenders.
