Kenya:Equity Bank’s half-year profits fall by 24 pc

By Samuel Ouma    

Equity Group Holdings half-year net profit has declined by 24 per cent from Ksh.12 billion to Ksh.9.1 billion.

The drop has been attributed to Coronavirus pandemic which has affected the economy, the bank announced on Tuesday.

The bank’s operational cost increased by 44 per cent to Ksh.26.7 billion from Ksh.18.6 billion. Loan loss provision also rose from Ksh.500 million to Ksh.7.7 billion.

Topline net interest rose by 17 per cent to Ksh.24.6 billion from Ksh.21.1 billion.

''Loan loss provision grew 15 times in recognition of portfolio risk associated with the adverse disruption of COVID-19 health pandemic control, management and containment measures and resultant economic shocks and disruptions of supply chains by economic lockdowns,’’ Equity Group MD James Mwangi said.

Customers shied from the use of Merchant Banking and Agency Banking as a transactional channel with merchant transaction stagnant as commission decreased by 10 per cent from Ksh.103.3 million to Ksh.93.3 million.

The Agency cash-out transaction volume reduced by 20 per cent from Ksh.54 billion to Ksh.42.9 billion with commission declining by 25 per cent from Ksh.1.055 billion to Ksh.789 million.

Non-funded income fell from Ksh.14.5 billion to Ksh.14.1 billion as a result of the waiver of mobile transaction fees since April 2020.

However, retail digital commercial payments Eazzy Pay and Pay with Equity registered 49 per cent growth in the cumulative number of transactions from 1.152 million to 1.719 million. The value of transactions also soared by 52 per cent to hit Ksh.9.8 billion from Ksh.6.4 billion.

The Equity’s balance sheet grew by 17 per cent from Ksh.638.7 billion to Ksh.746.5 billion. This was as a result of 19 per cent growth in customer deposits to Ksh.543.9 billion from Ksh. 458.6 billion.

Regional subsidiaries grew by 2 per cent to 28 per cent from 26 per cent.