Bank profits jump 52pc to Sh38.4b

Customers inside a banking hall. Banks were able to lower their costs in the first three months of this year, boosting shareholder value.

Banks’ profits before tax in the first quarter of the year hit Sh38.4 billion, despite a rise in provisions for bad loans.

According to the latest Quarterly Economic Review, which is prepared by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), banks saw their profits rise by 51.5 per cent in the three months to March 31, 2016 over the previous quarter.