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KCB profit roars on

NAIROBI, October 23 – The Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Group has announced a 51.6 percent increase in after tax profit for the first nine months of the year.

KCB Group Chief Executive, Martin Oduor-Otieno, released the bank’s un-audited trading results for quarter three showing a profit after tax of Sh4.7 billion up from Sh3.1 billion for the period ending September 30.

Mr Oduor-Otieno said that funded income had increased by 29 percent from Sh6.2 billion in September 2007 to Sh8.04 billion this year.  Non-funded income contributed Sh9 billion, an 18 percent growth over 2007, while foreign exchange income doubled to Sh1 billion up from Sh555 million for the same period in 2007.

Total operating income thus stood at Sh13.8 billion from Sh10.5 billion for the respective period last year, an increase of 33 percent against total operating expenses of Sh8.9 billion up from Sh6.6 billion in the same period in 2007.

Mr Oduor-Otieno expressed optimism that the bank was in a position to deliver good results for the full year based on this performance.

He said the bank’s balance sheet now stands at Sh183 billion which represents a 67 percent increase over the Sh110 billion balance size in September 2007. 

Net loans and advances grew by 53 percent to stand at Sh88.1 billion up from Sh57.7 billion in 2007 due to growth in business arising from a growing economy, increased marketing and improved relationship management in both the retail and corporate segments.

Meanwhile the bank has announced plans to open its business in Rwanda next week.  “This will move us closer to completing our representation across the East African region,” Mr Oduor-Otieno noted.

KCB has been in Southern Sudan since mid-2006 with two branches in Rumbek and Juba.

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“We are currently expanding the branch network by an additional nine branches in other cities in the country. The business in Sudan is profitable and now contributes significantly to the Group’s balance sheet,” Mr Oduor – Otieno added.

He said the bank had restructured its business in Tanzania to make it more competitive and was planning to expand the network by seven branches in addition to the existing five to increase its footprint in the country.

Mr Oduor-Otieno further allayed fears on any negative effects on the bank as result of the on-going global economic crunch.

“KCB is well positioned to withstand the effect of the global financial crisis because of its strong balance sheet, quality of assets, well diversified deposit base and strong liquidity. The fact that governments overseas are supporting the institutions at risk should help cushion the adverse impacts on our operations,” he said.

Although negative sentiments had led to a fall in share prices on the Nairobi Stock Exchange in the recent past, Mr Oduor-Otieno was confident that the KCB share price would recover soon as the fundamentals in the business remained strong.

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