KCB Group Limited posted a 16% increase in profit after tax for the 12 months ending December 2015 citing innovation and dependency on IT.
The firm’s Post Tax earnings hit KShshs.19.6 billion during the period, up from KShs 16.8 billion in 2014 with the contribution from KCB’s international business rising to 12.8% up from 8.3% the previous year.
The firm attributes its profits to deliberate investments and focus on building a business around diversification, prudent cost management, a robust IT system.
KCB Group CEO Joshua Oigara said, “Going into the future, we believe that the pace and trajectory of our growth as a business will largely be determined by our efforts in improving operational efficiencies and deepening digital payments while exploiting our network spread to enhance service excellence.”
This digital deepening last year when KCB partnered with Safaricom to launch KCB-Mpesa, a mobile banking service. KCB M-Pesa has disbursed over KShs 7Billion in loans to over 5 million KCB-Mpesa customers todate.
“We have revolutionalised lending through KCB Mpesa. Lending has never been easier and faster than it is today because of this technology that allows customers to access funds instantly on their mobile phones and we see this as a key cog in our growth story,” said Mr Oigara.
This saw the Group surpass the 10 million customer mark, marking a major milestone, as it set up a Representative Office in Ethiopia to deepen the regional presence.
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During the period under review, the Bank handled KSh31 billion in agency transactions up from KShs 14 billion in 2014. At least 21.6 million transactions were handled through mobile phones, compared to 10.9 million the previous year. Agency transactions hit 7.5 million from 3.2 million in 2014, a 134 % rise.
The Group’s balance sheet hit Ksh558 Billion, a 14 % growth, giving the lender the much needed muscle to run a stronger regional business while taking up bigger projects across East Africa and beyond. The growth in the balance sheet was boosted by a 22% growth in loans and advances while balances with other financial institutions rose by 40%.
Present in seven operations—Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and Ethiopia (representative office), the bank aims to be present in at least 10 markets by 2020. KCB is eying entry into Somalia, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo among other countries.
