Equity Bank pre-tax profits grow by 48%
Nov 03, 2009
EQUITY Bank, East Africa’s microfinance bank, has posted a 48% rise in pre-tax profit to Ksh4.3b (about sh107b) in the year to September, up from Ksh2.9b during the same period last year, latest financial results show.
By Sylvia Juuko
EQUITY Bank, East Africa’s microfinance bank, has posted a 48% rise in pre-tax profit to Ksh4.3b (about sh107b) in the year to September, up from Ksh2.9b during the same period last year, latest financial results show.
Dr. James Mwangi, the chief executive officer, explained that the bank registered positive growth despite a challenging environment occasioned by the global downturn.
“These results are attributable to sustaining our strategy of balanced growth, high operating efficiency, and prudent management of risk,†said Mwangi in a statement.
Net interest income went up by 40% to Ksh6.7b (about sh174b) in September compared to Ksh4.8b (about sh124b), the previous year.
The bank’s total assets also grew to Ksh97.4b (about sh2.5 trillion), up from Ksh76.4b (about sh1.9 trillion) in 2008.
The bank’s loans and advances to customers rose by 36% to Ksh58.1b (about sh1.5 trillion), while customer deposits went up by 38% to Ksh65.6b (about sh1.7 trillion), up from Ksh47.5b (about sh1.2trillion) the previous period.
The bank’s return on equity also grew by 27%. The statement said this was driven by the number of customer deposit accounts, which reached 105 million at the end of September, up from 75 million in 2008.
Mwangi said the bank continued with its growth strategy including enhancement of capacity and scaling up of operations to support the regional expansion programme.
The strategy included increasing the branch network by an additional 38, the majority of these being part of the regional expansion in Uganda and Southern Sudan, giving the bank a total of 155 branch network. These investments led to a 31% growth in operating expenses to sh177.5b.
EQUITY Bank, East Africa’s microfinance bank, has posted a 48% rise in pre-tax profit to Ksh4.3b (about sh107b) in the year to September, up from Ksh2.9b during the same period last year, latest financial results show.
Dr. James Mwangi, the chief executive officer, explained that the bank registered positive growth despite a challenging environment occasioned by the global downturn.
“These results are attributable to sustaining our strategy of balanced growth, high operating efficiency, and prudent management of risk,†said Mwangi in a statement.
Net interest income went up by 40% to Ksh6.7b (about sh174b) in September compared to Ksh4.8b (about sh124b), the previous year.
The bank’s total assets also grew to Ksh97.4b (about sh2.5 trillion), up from Ksh76.4b (about sh1.9 trillion) in 2008.
The bank’s loans and advances to customers rose by 36% to Ksh58.1b (about sh1.5 trillion), while customer deposits went up by 38% to Ksh65.6b (about sh1.7 trillion), up from Ksh47.5b (about sh1.2trillion) the previous period.
The bank’s return on equity also grew by 27%. The statement said this was driven by the number of customer deposit accounts, which reached 105 million at the end of September, up from 75 million in 2008.
Mwangi said the bank continued with its growth strategy including enhancement of capacity and scaling up of operations to support the regional expansion programme.
The strategy included increasing the branch network by an additional 38, the majority of these being part of the regional expansion in Uganda and Southern Sudan, giving the bank a total of 155 branch network. These investments led to a 31% growth in operating expenses to sh177.5b.