Barclays Bank of Kenya has today announced a profit after tax of KES 4.2 Bn in H1 profits for the period ending June 30th which represents a 14% growth compared to the same period last year.
The increase in profit margins can be attributed to a 20% growth in customer loans which rose from KES 107 Billion to KES 128 Bn.
Speaking when making the announcement, Barclays Bank of Kenya Managing Director, Mr. Jeremy Awori said, “The banking industry is currently undergoing unprecedented disruption resultant from a highly dynamic market environment. We have therefore amplified our innovations agenda and augmented it with game changing products and services such as the Salary Retrenchment Cover and the Zidisha Bonus Savings account in order to maintain our competitive edge,” he noted.
He added that, “We are implementing a three year strategy whose goal is to make Barclays one of the top 3 banks in Kenya in revenues. To achieve this, we are refocusing our efforts on key transformational projects such as the recently concluded Eurobond in order to sustain a good performance.”
“Additionally, we have set up an Investment Banking arm which will allow us to diversify into transactional services such as debt and equity capital markets as well as mergers and acquisitions,” he added.
In a bid to address the housing acquisition market, the bank is planning to set to up a Mortgage Centre as well as an Asset Finance Centre of Excellence to enable the bank to effectively meet growing demand in these two lines of business.
With the launch of the Asset Finance platform for example, Barclays envisions that it will be able to grow its market share in this line of business.
The profit results also come in the wake of board appointments made by the institution that saw three more women make it to the board bringing to the total number of women board members to five.