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Profit after tax grew by 20 percent from Sh1.64 billion in 2011 to Sh1.96 billion.
In a statement, the group Managing Director Gideon Muriuki said despite the impressive performance, operating costs increased by 28 percent.
“The bank’s strategy of managing costs continued during the quarter focusing mainly on staff rationalisation which saw the redeployment of staff to the newly opened branches. Other cost areas are being consistently reviewed and monitored and any cost overruns, eliminated,” added Muriuki.
Total customer deposits increased to Sh145.9 billion compared to Sh135.9 billion in March 2011, an impressive growth of Sh10 billion representing 7.3 percent growth. This was due to the increased client base of over 2.7 million account holders from 1.8 million accounts in March 2011.
The loan book (net) increased by 24 percent to Sh113.6 billion from Sh91.5 billion in March 2011.
Non-funded income increased to Sh2.1 billion compared to Sh1.73 billion in 2011, supported by fees and commissions including ATM commissions, personal and business banking commissions, mobile banking, and forex income.
“The successful strategy of increasing our customer numbers thus increasing the transaction-based incomes is expected to be the key driver of our performance for the rest of the year,” added Muriuki.
