Standard Chartered Bank head office along Nairobi’s Chiromo Road. The
bank has announced a 19 per cent decrease in net profit for the first
three months of the 2013 to Sh1.87 billion. FILE
By GEOFFREY IRUNGU
In Summary
- The decline is against a general growth trend in the banking sector, and has seen StanChart drop in the pecking order of Kenya’s largest lenders as classified by the Central Bank.
Increased operating expenses saw Standard Chartered after-tax profit in the first three months of the year drop 19 per cent to Sh1.87 billion.
The decline is against a general growth trend in
the banking sector, and has seen StanChart drop in the pecking order of
Kenya’s largest lenders as classified by the Central Bank.
The decline was also caused by a 20.4 per cent
surge in interest expenses to Sh2.7 billion, the lender’s first quarter
report released yesterday showed.
The “other income” category fell by 92 per cent to
Sh40.7 million from Sh507.3 million. This is where fixed-income
earnings are booked and may have been out of the valuation of the bonds
on the available-for-sale category at the end of the period.
Total income was flat at Sh5.4 billion with loans and advances up by 22 per cent to Sh117.3 billion.
“Net interest income grew by two per cent to Sh3.7
billion driven by strong growth in volumes but weighed down by the
significantly lower interest rates charged in line with falling interest
rates in the market,” the company said in a statement.
The company blamed changes in interest rates to
lower performance compared to last year when lending rates were higher.
The statement noted that this was mitigated by a strong performance in
foreign exchange dealing which grew by 42pc.
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