KCB Group Registers Ksh 25.2 Billion In Profits After Tax For 2019

KCB Group has released its full-year financial results for 2019 registering an increase in profits after tax by 5 percent to 25.2 billion shillings.

According to the lender, during the period under review, net interest income expanded 15 percent to 56.1 billion shillings from 48.8 billion shillings due to a 17 percent growth in loan book, digital lending and additional interest income from National Bank. Fees and commissions surged 39 percent to 19.8 billion shillings on diversified income streams.

The customer deposits for KCB Group in 2019 experienced a growth of 28 percent to 686.6 billion shillings. The main driver for this growth was the acquisition of the National Bank of Kenya (NBK).

The ratio of non-performing loans to total loan book increased to 10.9 percent (7.4% excl. NBK), well below the industry average of 12.0 percent. As a result, provisions for impairment increased to 8.9 billion shillings from 2.9 billion shillings.

Kenyans seem to have taken more mobile loans from KCB Group than in any other bank. The lender says mobile loans advanced increased to 212 billion shillings from 54 billion shillings in 2018. The cumulative disbursement via mobile over the past five years totaled 319 billion shillings.

READ: KCB Group Injects 5 Billion Shillings Into National Bank

“97 percent of all KCB Group transactions were performed outside the branch. The Digital Bank Enhanced investments in digital channels pushed non-funded income up 22.6 percent to 28.2 billion shillings from 23.0 billion shillings in 2018,” said the lender.

The total assets surged 26 percent to 899 billion shillings from 714 billion shillings in 2018. The key drivers for this growth were the loan book growth of 17 percent to 535.4 billion shillings reflecting the strong lending pipeline primarily driven by retail and corporate banking customer segments.

KCB distributed part of the profit by way of an interim dividend of 1.0 shillings per share in the course of 2019. The KCB Group Board has proposed a final dividend of 2.5 shillings per share to be presented to shareholders in the AGM to be held in May 2020.

READ: Mobile Money Subscribers Outnumber Kenya’s Census Population Data