Stanchart posts Sh6.2b in profit

Standard Chartered Bank Kenya has posted Sh6.2 billion in after-tax profits for the nine months to September this year.

This is a marginal drop from Sh6.3 billion reported over a similar period last year.

The lender said in a statement yesterday that investments in digital platforms continue to pay off, with 80 per cent of consumers’ transactions going through digital channels.

“Our digital investments to transform the bank, develop and scale new business models continue apace,” said Chief Executive Kariuki Ngari (pictured).

“This has been positively received by our clients and key client digital adoption measures continue to improve. Close to 90 per cent of our corporate clients are utilising our Straight2Bank platform, and over 20 per cent of Kenya Revenue Authority tax receipts are processed through our real-time Integrated Tax Payment solution.”

The bank’s interest income, however, declined by six per cent to Sh19.1 billion, attributed to declining yields and lower average investment in government securities.

Non-interest income, on the other hand, was flat year on year at Sh7 billion, impacted by a slowdown in corporate finance, while operating expenses went up 12 per cent on the back of investments in technology, cybersecurity and staff.

“Loans and advances to customers remained flat at Sh119 billion compared to December 2018 as we continued to focus on higher-quality asset origination to ensure we grow our balance sheet in a sustainable manner,” said Mr Ngari.

Customer deposits grew modestly to Sh225 billion compared to Sh224 billion in December last year, with gross non-performing loans down eight per cent to Sh19.9 billion compared to December.