NAIROBI: Kenya – Kenyan banks made a pre-tax profit of $378,623,000 during the first quarter of 2015, writes JOHN SAMBO.
This is a 2.7% improvement compared to the period during the last four months of 2014.According to the latest Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) report on the sector, there was an improved performance with the size of net assets standing at Ksh. 3.37 trillion (about $34 billion), loans and advances worth Ksh. 2.04 trillion ($20 billion).
The deposit base was Ksh. 2.41 trillion and profit before tax of Ksh. 37.3 billion ($378,623,00) as at March 31st, 2015.
CBK said in its ‘Performance and Developments in the Kenyan Banking Sector for the Quarter ended March 31 2015’, over the same period, the number of bank customer deposit and loan accounts stood at Ksh29,714,738 and Ksh5,354,017 respectively.
CBK said in its report ‘The Kenyan banking sector is expected to remain stable and resilient in the remainder of 2015. The capital buffer requirement that took effect from January 2015 will enhance the resilience of the banking sector as banks explore new opportunities in Kenya and beyond.’
However, the value of gross non-performing loans (NPLs) increased by 9.4 per cent from Ksh. 107.1 billion in December 2014 to Ksh. 117.2 billion in March 2015.
The sector recorded an increase in the ratio of gross NPLs to gross loans from 5.4 per cent in December 2014 to 5.7 per cent in March 2015. But the quality of assets, measured as a proportion of net NPL to gross loans remained constant at 2.6 per cent over the same period.
As of March this year, Kenya had 43 commercial banks, one mortgage finance company, 10 microfinance banks, eight representative offices of foreign banks, 86 foreign exchange bureaus, 14 money remittance providers and two credit reference bureaus.
The aggregate balance sheet grew by 3.4 per cent from Ksh.3.26 trillion in December 2014 to Ksh.3.37 trillion in March 2015. The major asset components were loans and advances, government securities and placements, which accounted for 58.2%, 21.4% and 5.2 per cent of total assets respectively.
