Bank of Kigali’s net profit rises 22pc on interest income

Bank of Kigali has posted a 22 per cent increase in profit after tax in the first nine months of this year buoyed by a jump in interest income. Photo/FILE  NATION MEDIA GROUP

By David Mugwe

In Summary

• The Rwanda Stock Exchange (RSE) listed bank on Friday said its profit after tax rose to Rwf10.8 billion ($16.2 million) in the nine month period ended September 2013 compared to Rwf9 billion ($14.2 million) posted in the nine month period ended September 2012
• BoK, which is slightly larger than NSE listed Housing Finance said that its net income was driven by a 48.9 per cent jump in interest income to Rwf32.1 billion ($48.3 million) posted in the first nine months of this year from Rwf21.6 billion ($34.5 million) posted in the first nine months of last year
• Its share price closed at Rwf249 ($0.37) last Friday, having gained 96.06 per cent from its opening price at the beginning of this year of Rwf127 ($0.20)

Kigali bourse listed Bank of Kigali (BoK) has posted a 22 per cent increase in profit after tax in the first nine months of this year buoyed by a jump in interest income.

 

The Rwanda Stock Exchange (RSE) listed bank on Friday said its profit after tax rose to Rwf10.8 billion ($16.2 million) in the nine month period ended September 2013 compared to Rwf9 billion ($14.2 million) posted in the nine month period ended September 2012.

Unlike other lenders in the region who have seen their profits driven by a drop in interest paid on deposits, BoK said that its net income was driven by a 48.9 per cent jump in interest income to Rwf32.1 billion ($48.3 million) posted in the first nine months of this year from Rwf21.6 billion ($34.5 million) posted in the first nine months of last year.

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The bank, which is the largest in Rwanda in terms of assets said its loan book rose by 18.6 per cent to Rwf195.4 billion ($293.8 million) in the period ended September this year from Rwf164.7 billion ($263.3 million) and deposits rose by 19.8 per cent to Rwf243.2 billion ($365.7 million) from Rwf203 billion ($324.5 million).

“We have expanded our branch network by six branches and registered considerable success with our agent banking network which has growth to over 500 agents in line with our branchless banking strategy,” said James Gatera, chief executive officer, BoK in a statement.

BoK is slightly larger than Nairobi Securities Exchange listed Housing Finance whose total assets stood at Ksh47.03 billion ($542.8 million) as at the end of September this year.

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Its share price closed at Rwf249 ($0.37) last Friday, having gained 96.06 per cent from its opening price at the beginning of this year of Rwf127 ($0.20).

Housing Finance posted a 70.65 per cent growth in profit after tax to Ksh676.17 million ($7.8 million) for the period ended September this year from Ksh396.22 million ($4.6 million) over a similar period last year.

Housing Finance’s shares closed at Ksh31.25 ($0.36) last Friday, having more than doubled from its opening price of Ksh15.45 ($0.18) at the beginning of this year.

BoK, which has 65 branches in Rwanda, a representative office in Nairobi and 63 automated teller machines said its interest expense rose 23.1 per cent to Rwf7 billion ($10.6 million) from Rwf5.7 billion ($9.1 million).

dmugwe@ke.nationmedia.com