Bank mergers: NCBA bank unveiled

FINANCE   BANKS 

KAMPALA - Officials at Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) and NC Bank have announced NCBA Bank Uganda Limited as the new brand name after a successful merger process. 

The Bank of Uganda (BoU) gave a letter of no objection for the merger of the two Kenyan based lenders in May. On June 15, the central bank finally issued them a commercial banking license, paving way for harmonization of systems and re-branding. 

"The issuance of the bank's license by BoU has paved way for the two organisations to officially start as NCBA Bank Uganda Limited. Starting today, the new logo and visual identity will be rolled out gradually across all customer touchpoints," NCBA Managing Director Anthony Ndegwa said in a statement. 

"The bank is in the processing of harmonizing its systems so that customers can enjoy seamless services across our channels," he added. In April 2019, shareholders of both banks approved the merger. 

NC Bank Uganda Limited is a wholly-owned subsidiary of NIC Bank Limited which has its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. NC Bank was incorporated in Uganda on August 8, 2011, and was granted a license to transact financial institutions business on February 8, 2012.

Meanwhile, CBA entered the Ugandan market in 2014. 

The merger of the two banks will create a single financial institution with an asset base of sh548b as at March 31, 2020.  

 Banks' performance in 2019

As at end of December 2019, total assets for CBA increased by 23.8% to sh248b. The bank made a loss of sh10.4b from a profit position of sh567m in 2018. The bank wrote-off bad debts worth sh14b compared to sh1.1 b in 2018. 

On the other hand, NC bank total assets increased by 5.9% to sh289b from sh273b. They made a profit after tax of sh3b in 2019 compared to a loss of sh4b in 2018. The bank reduced lending by 2.7% to sh139b.