Equity bank announces a 6% growth in profit before tax

Equity Group has announced a 6% growth in profit before tax for 2018. The Group attributed the growth to a unique business model and strategy that delivered differentiated results for the 2018 financial year.

Equity Group’s profit before tax grew to Kshs.28.5 billion up from Kshs.26.9 billion the previous year.

Equity group owns Equity bank which is the largest financial institution in terms of customer numbers. It offers unique products like loans and salary advances.

The 2018 Full Year Financial results for Equity Group Holdings were announced on Tuesday 26th March, 2019, by the Bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. James Mwangi.

Below is an extract of part of the presentation made by Dr Mwangi;

“In 2018, The monetary policy was supportive of economic growth as Central Banks rates remained stable across East Africa. East and Central Africa is one of the fastest growing regions in the world, with economic growth expected to grow to above 6%.

Equity Group’s pursuit of a unique business model and strategy to manage headwinds of a challenging environment delivered uniquely differentiated results in 2018.

There was marginal depreciation of regional currencies and the Kenya shilling was relatively stable compared to other regional currencies. Fees and commissions from Diaspora remittances grew by a significant 169% to KES 751million up from KES 279milllion the previous year.

In the year 2018, our loan book grew by 6% to KES 297.2 billion while maintaining an NPL ratio of 7.6% against industry NPL ratio of 12%. Growth in profit was underpinned by a 10% growth in Net Interest Income, driven by a 6% growth in loan book and 26% growth in investments in Government Securities.

96% of all Group cash transactions are now happening outside the branch, primarily on mobile platform and agency network. 89% of all successfully processed loans are now originated via mobile channels, while 96% of our transactions are happening outside the branch.”