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Somalipress English Maarso 2015 12
Kenyan lender KCB Group to expand mobile
banking services.
Kenya Commercial Bank “We stopped investing big tor, reiterating plans first KCB’s 2014 pretax profit
Group plans to expand its in branches three years announced in July. rose to 23.79 billion
business through mobile ago. Agents are my new shillings ($260.43 million)
and branchless banking, its branches and mobile “As a corporate we want to from 20.12 billion shillings
chief executive said on (banking) is the other new see if we can use the inter- the previous year, helped
Thursday after reporting an way we are connecting national debt market for a by higher interest income.
18 percent rise in full-year with customers,” Oigara eurobond. We talked about
pretax profit. told reporters. the medium term, so that’s Net interest income rose to
going to be two years,” he 35.95 billion shillings from
Joshua Oigara, CEO of “The growth in the alterna- told Reuters. 32.98 billion shillings, the
Kenya’s largest bank by tive channels is the big bank said.
assets, said KCB would part of our strategy. It is KCB has borrowed $200
expand its mobile phone something the industry has million for lending to sec- Customer deposits were up
transaction services and committed to.” tors export-oriented such 23 percent at 377.27 bil-
agency banking, whereby as horticulture, Oigara lion shillings, while net
third-party operators offer Oigara said the bank said, adding that it expects loans and advances
basic banking services on intends to tap international the figure to rise by $150 climbed 25 percent to
its behalf. debt markets to fund lend- million this year. 283.73 billion shillings. The
ing to the real estate sec- proportion of non-perform-
The bank, which also oper- ing loans on KCB’s books
ates in Rwanda, Uganda, fell to 6.3 percent from 8.1
South Sudan, Tanzania and percent in 2013.
Burundi, will enter new
regional markets this year, KCB will pay a dividend of
the CEO added without giv- 2 shillings, unchanged from
ing details. KCB has previ- the 2013 payout.
ously said it aims to
expand in the likes of the Shares in the bank were
Democratic Republic of flat at 59.50 shillings at
Congo, Somalia and 0852 GMT. ($1 = 91.3500
Ethiopia. Kenyan shillings)
