NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 20 – Imperial Bank has announced a 19 percent increase in pre-tax profit at Sh673 million for the year ended December 2008 compared to Sh563 million for the previous year.
Basic earnings per share went up from Sh416 to Sh 429.
Imperial Bank Managing Director Abdulmalek Janmohamed, attributed the performance to stringent risk management procedures, product innovation and growth in deposits owing to branch expansion.
“These results are evidence that the bank’s strategy of product development and growth of new markets is beginning to pay off,” said Mr Janmohamed.
Overall, the bank’s revenue grew by 16 percent to Sh2.9 billion largely driven by interest from lending.
Fees and commission income grew by 17 percent to Sh368 million while customer deposits grew by 21 percent and advances grew by 18 percent.
“Last year our focus begun with branch expansion and investment in human resources through hiring and training of staff. This year, we will strengthen our brand while offering technology based solutions to our customers. We will also increase staff engagement as we continue to identify new markets,” said Mr Janmohamed.
While reporting a 15 percent growth in assets to Sh13.4 billion Mr Janmohamed said that the bank’s core capital to total risk weighted assets stood at 19 percent which was an excess of 11 percent over the statutory minimum ratio whilst the core capital to total deposit liabilities stood at 15 percent, an excess of seven percent against the minimum statutory ratio.
The total capital to total risk quoted assets was 20 percent which also is an excess of eight percent against the minimum statutory ratio.
The bank further announced plans to continue a modest branch expansion strategy coupled with investment in more ATMs in order to increase product distribution and maintain its premium customer service positioning.
