Femme StaffKCB Group Financial Results 2024
KCB Group PLC profit after tax for the full year 2024 grew by 64.9% to KShs. 61.8 billion, accelerated by strong topline expansion across all businesses. This was a rise from KShs. 37.5 billion reported a similar period last year. The Group’s balance sheet closed the year at KShs.1.96 trillion, funded by a strong deposit franchise and stable loan portfolio, despite the tough operating environment.
Total revenues increased 24.0% to KShs. 204.9 billion on higher interest income and nonfunded income arising from foreign exchange trading income.
Commentary: Group Chief Executive Officer, Paul Russo
“The strong performance illustrates our resolve over the past 3 years to build an organisation for the future that is anchored on delivering value for our customers, shareholders and all stakeholders. The Group strives to be more agile by rethinking our customer-centered value propositions and leveraging Group capabilities in the markets where we operate in. Our focus is on ensuring we have fit-for-purpose technology that delivers seamless, reliable, secure, and innovative solutions for our customers,” said Mr Russo while releasing the results on Wednesday in Nairobi.
“Beyond financial performance, we stayed true to our brand purpose, For People. For Better, by continuously innovating and delivering products that open doors of opportunity for all our stakeholders. In line with, our 2024–2026 Strategy dubbed Transforming Today Together, we remain committed to the principle of Sustainability and Shared Value— unlocking impact in a meaningful and socially responsible way.” he added.
Financial Highlights
• The Group’s diversification model continued to deliver strong benefits, with the contribution by subsidiaries (excluding KCB Bank Kenya) to the total assets standing at 34.9%, while the share of profit after tax closed the year at 30.3%.
• Total Income grew by 24.0%, to KShs.204.9 billion from KShs.165.2 billion, with net interest income increasing by 28.0%. Non-funded income contribution of 33.0% of the total revenues was boosted by fees & commissions from transactions, trade finance and forex.
• Operating costs grew by 11.8%, to KShs.92.9 billion, impacted by staff costs, technological investments, inflationary pressures and business-driven expenditure.
• The Group continued to prioritize efforts to improve asset quality. Provisions for expected credit losses declined by 11.0%, driven by appreciation of the Kenya Shilling, successful rehabilitation of key NPL exposures and an aggressive recovery strategy.
• The Group’s stock of gross NPLs closed the period at KShs.225.7 billion. The NPL ratio stood at 19.2%, reflecting the hard economic conditions in different sectors across the markets.
• On the balance sheet side, customer deposits closed the year at KShs.1.4 trillion and despite pressure attributable to the appreciation of the Kenyan Shilling against the US dollar, customer loans and advances stood at KShs.990.4 billion.
• Return on equity improved to 24.6% up from 17.8% last year. Total equity attributable to Group shareholders increased by 20.8% from KShs.227.5 billion to KShs.274.9 billion, highlighting the sustained value that the Group continued to deliver for shareholders.
• The Group maintained strong capital buffers with all banking subsidiaries except NBK compliant with their respective local regulatory capital requirements. Group core capital as a proportion of total risk-weighted assets stood at 16.8% against the statutory minimum of 10.5% while the total capital to risk-weighted assets ratio was at 19.4% against a regulatory minimum of 14.5%.
• The Board has proposed a final dividend payout of KShs. 1.50 per share, subject to shareholder approval. This is in addition to an interim payout of KShs. 1.50 per share which was paid out in September 2024. This brings the total dividend payout for the year to KShs. 3.00 per share, amounting to a total of KShs. 9.6 billion for the year 2024.
Commentary: Group Chairman Joseph Kinyua
“We are excited about the strong profits witnessed across all entities. We are optimistic that there will be a pickup in economic activity this year across markets, supported by resilience of key service sectors and agriculture, expected recovery in growth of credit to the private sector, and improved exports. We are continually ring-fencing our business by preserving capital and containing costs for long-term sustainability,” said KCB Group Chairman Dr. Joseph Kinyua.
“Sustainability and embedding our ESG priorities will remain key to our strategy in 2025.
Leveraging the strength of our Foundation and working with the development partners, we will continue to integrate priority SDGs across the business with focus on social impact, climate action, and nature risk management” he added.
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