Worst six months for banks as profit drops by 30 per cent

Kenya’s largest lender by assets, KCB Bank, reported a 40 per cent drop in profit for the first six months of 2020, losing its profitability perch to Equity Bank that made Sh9 billion for the half year. [File, Standard]

Banks are estimated to have registered a drop in profitability by 30 per cent in what is turning out to be one of the worst half years for the country’s lenders.

An analysis of financial results for 28 banks, including all the big ones, shows that the industry’s net profit declined to Sh44 billion in the first half of 2020 from Sh62.9 billion in the same period last year, reflecting the negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.