Sustained revenue growth and prudent cost management helped raise KCB Group PLC full year 2018 net profit by 22 percent to a record KShs24 billion, the bank says in its latest financial statement.
In the results announced on Wednesday, the Group profit after tax for the 12 months ending December 2018 rose from KShs19.7 billion reported a year earlier. This was on the back of solid operating income of KShs71.8 billion—largely from interest income, fees and commissions— and lower costs which reduced 1 percent to KShs34.7 billion during the period, said the KCB Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Mr. Joshua Oigara.
“Our focus on customers, as well as our diversified business model and strong risk discipline helped us to produce another solid year of financial performance in 2018, even as we navigated the pressures of interest rates cap in Kenya and economic volatility in some of our subsidiaries,” said Mr Oigara.
“The Group’s performance is a reflection and outcome of our growth strategy, maximizing on our strengths, agility into emerging opportunities and the inherent potential to drive value creation for the shareholders and the communities in the markets we operate in,” he said.
The KCB Group Board has proposed a final dividend of KShs2.50 per share to be presented to shareholders in the Annual General Meeting. If approved, this will bring the total dividend to KShs3.50 per share, an increase of 16.7 percent over prior year dividend per share.