NAIROBI, August 14 – NIC Bank Thursday reported a 38 percent growth in half-year pre-tax profits posting Sh650 million until June 30, against Sh470 million last year.
Managing Director James Macharia said despite the challenging market environment that was worsened by a political crisis early this year, the bank managed to post satisfactory performance on all the key financial indicators.
Its operating income grew by 26 percent while the operating expenses outside provisions for loan losses grew by a modest Sh70 million in spite of the high inflation.
The Bank’s loan book grew from Sh18.5 billion to Sh25.7 billion by June 2008 while the deposit base stood at Sh30.2 billion.
Foreign currency trading income had increased by a significant 80 percent relative to 2007.
“A 44 percent year-on-year growth in non-funded income is truly impressive,” Macharia boasted.
The board declared an interim dividend of 25 cents for every ordinary share.
The MD stated that their expansion program was on track after they opened two additional branches in Nairobi and two in Mombasa.
The bank intends to open new branches in Kisumu and Thika before the end of 2008.
During the year, NIC Bank was one of only three local banks that receive recognition from Fitch Rating, a leading international rating agency of financial institutions.
