Family Bank Issues Profit Warning as it Focuses on Growth

Family Bank Kenya has issued a profit warning to its shareholders even as it focuses on the growth as well as making the institution more stable. The lender has said that its full year net profit is likely to fall by a quarter when the results will finally be out.

In a statement, the bank has said that its net profit for the year ending December will not go beyond 1.48 billion shillings due to the decision by the lender to lay off at once an unspecified number of employees.

The Chief Executive Officer Mr. David Thuku said that this does not mean that the bank will not make any profits, “We will definitely make profit but it will close at lower than 25 per cent of last year,” he said. He also said that the lender has embarked on a serious cost containment measures that he was hopeful it will help the bank “remain profitable going forward.”

On Tuesday, Family Bank recorded a profit of 963.3 million shillings for the nine-month period till September. These results were lower than what was recorded last year at the same time by nearly a half. Last year, the lender recorded 1.86 billion shillings in profits.

The bank, however, is still expanding and currently present in 32 counties across Kenya. “Currently, we have 93 outlets in 32 counties and will be opening three more branches in Eastleigh, River Road and Wangige.” Said Mr. Thuku. He added that the bank plans to hit its target of opening 100 branches across the county by the end of quarter one of the year 2017.

For the nine months, the deposits for the lender through mobile platforms grew to 3 billion shillings per month as compared to 700 million shillings at the same time in 2015. Income from loans grew by 2.1 billion shillings to close at 7.9 billion shillings in the period under review. The loan book, however, grew by 3 billion shillings to 55.7 billion shillings and the customer base grew to 2 million.