Corporate News
Trans-National CEO Sammy Lang’at. PHOTO | FILE
By DAVID HERBLING
In Summary
- The small-tier lender said the private placement would help to grow the ownership base besides funding the opening of more branches.
- Trans-National is ranked 35th in size out of Kenya’s 44 banks, with 39,000 deposit accounts which give it a market share of 0.2 per cent.
- The bank currently has 17 branches and plans to open two new outlets by end of the year.
Trans-National Bank plans to raise Sh1 billion through a private share offering to finance its expansion plans.
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The lender, classified among Kenya’s small-tier banks, said
the private placement would help to grow the ownership base besides
funding the opening of more branches.
Trans-National is ranked 35th in size out of
Kenya’s 44 banks, with 39,000 deposit accounts which give it a market
share of 0.2 per cent.
“The funds will help support growth of the bank
through opening more branches countrywide,” said chief executive Sammy
Lang’at told the Business Daily in an interview last week.
“We also want to broaden the ownership of the bank so we can attract more customers.”
Mr Lang’at disclosed that Trans-National had opted
for a restricted stock offering rather than a public share sale because
the lender is targeting sophisticated investors.
He added that the bank did not have near-term plans for an initial public offering.
The plans to raise expansion capital come at a time
when the bank has embarked on refurbishing its branches after adopting a
seedling for its logo, to reflect growth.
Trans-National’s net profit dropped by a quarter to
Sh158.1 million in the period to December 2013 compared to Sh213.3
million a year earlier, impacted by lower foreign exchange earnings and
increased provisions for bad loans.
It currently has 17 branches and plans to open two new outlets by end of the year.
Mr Lang’at said the lender has revamped its IT
platforms to offer services through electronic channels such as mobile,
Internet and agency banking as well as use of its debit and credit cards
accepted on the Kenswitch network.
The small lender started off as Transnational
Finance in 1984, a non-bank, deposit-taking institution that also
provided hire purchase and other loans.
It established a separate fully-fledged bank in
1985 dubbed Trans National Bank Ltd. The two financial firms merged in
1996, and Transnational Finance ceased to exist.
Transnational’s ownership is associated with confidantes of former President Daniel arap Moi.
Sovereign Trust, a company associated with Joshua
Kulei, a former aide to the ex-president, has 23.03 per cent
shareholding in the lender.
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