KCB Q3 Pretax Profit Up By 17 Percent

Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) has posted an improved pretax profit rising by 17 percent for the third quarter of 2014.

The company pointed out growth in Transaction Fees and improved efficiency through the use of alternative business channels, as well as, a significant growth in non-funded income as some of the driving factors behind its profit growth.

Image via Business Daily Africa

The Bank's CEO Joshua Oigara told CNBC Africa “We have also seen good increment on our fees and commission which is also not a surprise because we have invested very strongly on the non-funded income, alternative channels, invested in agency banking… despite the reduction in our net margin this year compared to last year.”

The group fees and commission on loans was up 20 percent to 3.5 billion Kenyan shillings while loans and advances grew by 17 percent to 264.3 billion Kenyan shillings from 225.7 billion shillings reported the same period last year.

KCB is East Africa's largest commercial bank in terms of assets, and despite experiencing some serious headwinds in its operations in Uganda and Southern Sudan over the recent past, the group still managed to grow its overall assets significantly increasing from $385.2 billion Kenyan shillings to 451 billion shillings, representing another 17 percent growth,a figure that was so common in the recent results.

Kenya is the company's largest revenue contributor accounting for 77%, while South Sudan contributes about 12.7%, with Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda accounting for 3.7%, 3.2% and 3.2% respectively.