KCB Group #ticker:KCB posted a 14.1 per cent net profit rise in the first quarter ended March buoyed by increased lending.
Kenya’s biggest bank said it had made Sh5.1 billion net profit in the review period compared to Sh4.5 billion a year earlier, riding on a 5.8 per cent loan book growth that raised interest income 11 per cent to Sh15.6 billion.
Investment in government bonds and T-bills rose 1.5 per cent to Sh94.6 bills.
KCB also benefited from lower loan loss provision of Sh600.2 million, down from Sh958.1 million in the same quarter last year despite a 36.1 per cent surge in gross defaults to Sh43.7 billion.
Non-interest income was flat at Sh5.5 billion, an outcome that the company attributed to reduced forex trading in South Sudan.
KCB is the second bank to report its first quarter results that capture the impact of the more conservative accounting rules, dubbed IFRS 9, which came into force at the beginning of the year and were expected to raise provisions for bad debt through anticipation of defaults.
