This archive report was first published on 12 November 2019.
Published on November 12, 2019, Equity Group announced its third-quarter earnings, which rose to KSh 17.3 billion at the end of September 2019, up from KSh 15.5 billion last year.
As the first listed lender to announce its third-quarter results, Equity Group's improved financial performance comes amidst the backdrop of the Rate Cap law, which saw many lenders shift to safer havens such as Government paper.
Despite a credit squeeze to the retail sector, the lender's income from loans and advances to customers increased from KSh 25.8 billion to KSh 28.98 billion, while total non-interest income rose from KSh 19.8 billion to KSh 22.5 billion.
The Group's earnings in Fees and Commissions posted a marginal increase from KSh 4.27 billion to KSh 4.29 billion, and the lender's balance sheet grew in size to KSh 677.1 billion compared to KSh 560.3 billion last year.
However, gross non-performing loans and advances grew from KSh 26.5 billion to KSh 30.6 billion, while the Group's net NPL exposure declined from Sh 2.5 billion last year to KSh 922.7 billion at the end of September this year.
Equity Group, with subsidiaries in Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is considered one of the most profitable after state-owned KCB Group.
The lender is also keen to expand its operations, having roped in Atlas Mara Limited and seeking to buy the firm's banking business in Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Rwanda.
