StanChart earnings dip 28 per cent on bad loans

Corporate News

Standard Chartered Bank chairperson Anne Mutahi with Lamin Manjang, the chief executive officer, during the bank’s annual general meeting at the Safari Park Hotel on May 28, 2015. PHOTO | DIANA NGILA 

By VICTOR JUMA and EDWIN MBUTHIA

In Summary

• StanChart reported a net profit of Sh1.8 billion in the three months compared to Sh2.5 billion a year earlier.

Standard Chartered Bank Kenya recorded a 28 per cent drop in net profit in the first quarter ended March, as bad debts took a toll on its earnings.

The bank reported a net profit of Sh1.8 billion in the three months compared to Sh2.5 billion a year earlier.

This makes it the second major lender to announce a profit drop after CfC Stanbic whose net earnings fell by a similar margin to Sh1.1 billion between January and March.

“The first quarter performance was subdued largely due to the after-effects of the sharp increase in our non-performing loan book in 2014,” StanChart’s CEO Lamin Manjang said in a statement.

Speaking during the bank’s AGM held on Thursday, the chairperson, Anne Mutahi, said non-performing loans had increased due to tightened regulations from the Central Bank of Kenya last year.

“We expect that after compliance, the non-performing loans will reduce from the high of 372 per cent increase to a low of about 5 per cent,” said Mrs Mutahi.