This archive report was first published on 24 May 2021.
On March 31, 2021, Standard Chartered Bank Kenya announced a significant improvement in its financial performance, with a 19% increase in net profit compared to the same period in 2020.
The bank's net profit for the first quarter of 2021 stood at KSh2.39 billion, a notable rise from KSh2.01 billion in the first quarter of 2020.
According to the bank's financial reports, the improvement in net profit was largely driven by a rise in non-interest income and a decline in operating expenses.
Non-interest income increased to KSh1.999 billion in the three months through March 2021, up from KSh1.905 billion in the same period a year ago.
However, the bank's interest income fell by 9% to KSh5.563 billion in March 2021 from KSh6.102 billion in March 2020.
Standard Chartered also reported a reduction in its total operating expenses by 15% to KSh4.595 billion at the end of Q1 2021, from KSh5.383 billion in the same period in 2020.
The bank's customer deposits increased to KSh265.2 billion in the first three months of 2021 from KSh243.6 billion in the same period last year.
Loans and advances to customers dipped to KSh117.9 billion in Q1 2021 from KSh125.5 billion in Q1 2020.
Notably, the lender posted an 11% rise in bad loans in the period under review, with gross non-performing loans jumping to KSh22.3 billion at the end of March 2021 from KSh20.02 billion at the end of March 2020.
