This archive report was first published on 15 August 2019.
Kenya's biggest bank, KCB Group, has achieved a notable milestone in the first six months of 2019, with a five per cent net profit growth.
According to the bank's half-year results, the net profit has hit Sh. 12.7 billion, a significant increase from the previous year.
The growth in net profit is attributed to a five per cent rise in interest income, which stood at Sh. 25.4 billion, as well as a 15 per cent growth in non-funded income to Sh. 13.2 billion.
The bank's loan book also experienced a 13.8 per cent growth, pushing up interest on loans and advances to customers to Sh. 479 billion from Sh. 421 billion.
"The improvement in earnings from Sh. 12.1 billion reported same period last year is attributable to growth in loan book and increased mobile channel activity. Prudent cost management further supported the performance in a relatively tough business environment," said KCB Group CEO and Managing Director Joshua Oigara.
Following these results, KCB shareholders are set to earn an interim dividend of Sh. 1.00 per share, which will be paid in November 2019.
However, the bank's bottomline was impacted by a 266 per cent jump in loan loss provision from Sh. 0.8 billion to Sh. 3 billion, a development that the bank is keenly looking at to deliver a robust second half performance.
On August 15, 2019, KCB Group released its half-year results, which highlighted the bank's growth and challenges in the first six months of the year.
