Interest income lifts NIC profit

Kenya's NIC Bank Ltd posted a 10.7 per cent jump in pre-tax profit for the first half of this year to Sh2.91 billion, the bank said yesterday.

The mid-tier lender, which also has operations in Tanzania and Uganda, attributed the profit rise to a jump in its net interest income, a drop in provisions for bad debts and an increase in fees and commissions.

Net interest income rose 10 per cent to Sh3.78 billion, while loan loss provisions dropped 42 per cent to Sh198.66 million shillings. Operating expenses increased by more than Sh200 million.

To fund this growth in advances, the deposit base increased to Sh3.5 billion as at June 2014, reflecting a 17 per cent growth from Sh80 billion recorded in June 2013.

The Group's capital base as at June 2014 stood at Sh19.2 billion, a growth of Sh2.3 billion over June 2013, with key banking regulatory requirements in excess of the minimum thresholds set by the Central Bank of Kenya.