By Kepha Muiruri For Citizen Digital
In the year so far for instance; KCB, Equity, NCBA, and Co-operative Bank have recorded gains of 3.7, 3.1, 3.6 and 6.1 per cent in the year so far.
This is against losses of 0.7 and 1.9 per cent on the NSE 20 and the Nairobi All Share Index (NASI) respectively in the same period.
According to analysts at AIB-AXYS Africa, investors are taking positions ahead of the near-sure dividend bet by the banking industry.
“We expect investors to continue taking positions in the banking sector in anticipation of good 2021 full-year results which are likely to see a return to dividend payments,” the analysts stated.
After broadly skipping issuing dividends in the last two years, commercial banks are expected to resume the tradition this year buoyed by improving trading results.
Banks are expected to keep up the trend of growing net profit in folds on easing loan-loss provision costs as the stock of the industry’s non-performing loans (NPLs) reduces while credit risks subside.
According to data from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), the gross NPL ratio fell to 13.1 per cent in December from a higher 13.6 per cent in October.
Some banks went ahead of peers to issue interim dividends at the half-year stage affirming the expected strong earnings for the year to December 2021.
This includes Standard Chartered Bank and KCB who declared combined interim dividends worth Ksh.5.2 billion.
Others to issue the half-term dividends were Stanbic Bank Kenya and NCBA.
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