KCB Group profits have dropped by 43 percent in nine months to September 2020 with the lender attributing the drop to the Covid-19 pandemic that is sweeping around the world affecting various sectors.
KCB Group’s profits stood at 10.9 billion shillings, a drop from 19.2 billion shillings recorded at a similar period in 2019. According to the Groups MD Mr. Joshua Oigara, the year 2020 has been a challenging one for businesses to operate.
“This has been a challenging period for the business, staff, our customers, and the economy. Our focus has been on keeping our staff and customers safe while at the same time giving business support to the communities we operate in as well as our customers,” said Mr. Oigara.
The Group’s total income was up 16 percent to stand at 69.1 billion shillings from 59.7 billion shillings reported in September 2019. ” The pandemic has had a deep socio-economic impact and hence our decision to stand with our stakeholders,” added Joshua Oigara.
The non-performing loans (NPLs) book rose to 97 billion shillings from 42.6 billion shillings the previous year. The ratio of NPLs to total loan book increased to 15.2 percent from 8.3 percent in 2019 due to the consolidation of NBK and COVID-19 related downgrades.
“While the pandemic is far from over and likely to continue into the next year, further straining the business and economy, we are projecting some recovery as the East Africa region finds some stability in living with the effects of the virus,” said the MD.
The coming of the Covid-19 pandemic forced many businesses in Kenya to restructure their models of doing businesses in order to remain afloat. Commercial banks were forced to restructure their loans to give their customers a reprieve to cope up with the effects of the pandemic.
Most businesses have already shut down and let go of millions of employees as a result of Covid-19.
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