Consolidated Bank reports Sh28.3m loss

Consolidated Bank has reversed its 2015 full-year profitability to record a Sh28.3 million loss in the first three months of this year.

The State-owned lender’s loss in the first quarter ended on March 31 is a 49 per cent drop from a 2015 first quarter loss of Sh19 million.

Despite its total interest income growing from Sh424.9 million to Sh442.8 million, the bank’s performance was weighed down by a rise in operating expenses. During the three-month period, the lender’s operating expenses rose by more than a third to Sh421 million. This was driven up by loan loss provisions.

The bank has provided for Sh82 million in bad debt, which is more than 13 times what had been provided for in a similar quarter in 2015. Its director payments also increased by 88.5 per cent to Sh8.7 million.

However, its gross non-performing loans (NPLs) and advances dipped from Sh2.9 billion to Sh1.9 billion, a drop of 34 per cent.

It becomes the first lender so far to report a reduction in NPLs in this year’s first quarter. Other lenders, such as KCB, Barclays Bank, Equity Bank, Standard Chartered, National Bank, Diamond Trust Bank and Sidian Bank, have seen quarter-on-quarter NPL increases.