Equity Group reports Sh14.23 billion first-half pretax profit

NAIROBI, KENYA: Kenya's Equity Group Holdings reported a rise in first-half pretax profit on Monday to Sh14.23 billion from Sh12.10 billion helped by higher net interest income.

Chief Executive Officer James Mwangi told an investor briefing that net interest income rose 37 percent to Sh21.2 billion.

Equity, which focuses on the lower-income part of the Kenyan market, also operates in Uganda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo.

First-half customer deposits rose to sH320.8 billion from 301.0 billion, Mwangi said.

The bank said the value of transactions on its mobile phone banking service, launched in July 2015, stood at 97.8 billion shillings at the end of June versus 49.5 billion in July 2015.

It said its total assets rose to 444.4 billion shillings from 400.9 billion a year earlier.