Profits For Diamond Trust Bank Dip By 25% In 6 Months

Diamond Trust Bank Kenya Limited (DTB) has posted 4.5 billion shillings in group pre-tax profit for the first six months of 2020, marking a 25 percent decline from the previous year.

The reduced profit, according to the lender was largely the result of increased provisions, “reflecting the prudent approach adopted by DTB in the midst of the prevailing higher credit risk environment following the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Across the banking industry, we are operating in tough times and share the hope that as a country, we will soon be out of this crisis. At DTB, most of our customers are in the Small and Medium Enterprises segment and they are facing perhaps the toughest period they have ever gone through,” said DTB Group CEO and Managing Director Nasim Devji.

The Bank’s total operating income increased by 2 percent to 12.4 billion shillings in the period compared to 12.2 billion shillings in June 2019. The non-funded income grew by 6 percent to 3.2 billion shillings from 2.9 billion shillings.

During this period, DTB’s non-branch transactions rose to 87 percent up from 81 percent on a year-on-year comparison. This change was on account of the increased adoption of mobile and internet banking by the Bank’s customers.

Total Assets grew by 3 percent to 388.3 billion shillings, funded by customer deposits and existing business growth. Net loans and advances grew 6 percent to close the period at KSh201.5 billion. Shareholders’ equity grew 7 percent from 56.9 billion shillings to 61.0 billion shillings. This was driven by the growth in retained earnings over the 12 month period to June 2020.

“The Group has strong capital and liquidity buffers which speaks to the Group’s inherent resilience. The Group’s core capital as a proportion of total risk-weighted assets closed the period at 18.1 percent against the Central Bank of Kenya’s statutory minimum of 10.5 percent,” said the lender.

Total capital to risk-weighted assets stood at 20.0 percent against a regulatory minimum of 14.5 percent. All banking subsidiaries met the regulatory capital requirements.

DTB has rolled out a number of interventions to cushion customers and the wider community against the effects of the pandemic.