Thursday 2 June 2016

2016/17 Budget to be delivered on 8th of June 2016

2016/17 Budget Statement will be delivered by Cabinet Secretary National Treasury Mr Henry Rotich.In a press statement,Principal secretary National Treasury Dr.Kamau Thugge,notified the public that the Budget statement for fiscal year 2016/17 will be delivered on Wednesday,the 08th June 2016 at 3.00 Pm at the National Assembly.

Monday 30 May 2016

Fastjet Signal Entry into Local operations

Fastjet Kenya has formally received one of the two licences it needs to begin domestic flights locally.

The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) on Friday gazetted Fastjet’s Air Service Licence (ASL) to Mombasa, Kisumu, Wajir and Eldoret.

fast Jet is a low cost airline in Africa for Smart Travellers, serving Tanzania, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Uganda and Kenya.

It operate from Tanzania, covering routes between Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, Kilimanjaro, Mbeya & Zanzibar.Internationally, they fly to Lusaka, Johannesburg, Harare, Entebbe, and Nairobi.

Locally the routes are dominated by Jambo jet and Fly 540.

Wednesday 18 May 2016

Co-operative Bank Group post Sh3.44 billion net profit in Q1 of 2016

Co-operative Bank Group has posted a Sh3.44 billion net profit in Q1 of 2016 which represent an 8 percent growth rate.

This was attributed to growth in the loan book that supported a 25 percent rise in interest income from loans to stand at Sh8.3 billion compared to Sh6.7 billion recorded in the same period in 2015.

Net loans and advances grew by 16 percent to Sh213.7 billion compared to Sh184.1 billion in the same period in 2015 while deposits hit Sh267.4 billion from Sh238 billion last year,which represent a 12 percent increase.

Shareholders’ funds stood at Sh55.3billion, a growth of 17 percent compared to last year with total assets at 350.7 billion.

The group has six million account holders across all sectors with 144 branches, 8,765 Co-op Kwa Jirani Banking Agents and over 570 ATMs.

This was as a result of transformation dubbed 'The Soaring Eagle' that started in December 2014 which intended to re-tool and re-energize the business for increased competitive advantage in Kenya's financial sector

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Wednesday 11 May 2016

Safaricom post Ksh38.1 billion in profit

Safaricom has posted Ksh38.1 billion in profit for the year ending  2015. The revenue was boosted by M-PESA and increased data usage.

Announcing the result Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore said that the company remitted to Government Ksh31.14 billion in duties, taxes and license fees for the six month period ended 30 September 2015, up from Ksh29.84 billion in September 2014.

He said that Safaricom has proposed a dividend of Ksh0.76 per share to be paid in December 2016, subject to shareholder approval.Pending approval by shareholders Safaricom will pay out a dividend of Ksh30.48 billion, which represents 80 per cent of net income, for the year ended 31 March 2016.

Mr Collymore said M-PESA revenue grew by 27.2 per cent to Ksh41.5 billion, driven by a 19.8 per cent growth in 30 day active M-PESA customers to 16.6m and a 17.5 per cent growth of M-PESA agent footprint to 100,744.

Lipa Na M-PESA payments made at 44,000 merchant outlets in March grew by 74 per cent to Ksh20 billion. He further said that M-PESA continues to be a key platform to drive financial inclusion which will drive the growth of savings and loans, grow cashless payments for businesses through M-PESA and launch new innovative products.

The number of customers on Kenya’s leading telecom network shot up to 25.10 million as at 30 September 2015, up from 21.85m the same period in 2014. Mr Collymore said the company continued to invest heavily in both the expansion and modernisation of its 2G, 3G, and 4G networks and in fibre layout in key metro areas that have seen it create 4,251 direct jobs and 108,000 indirect jobs.

According to the results, Safaricom saw a 42.7 per cent growth in mobile data revenue to Ksh21.2 billion a 21.5% increase which drove active mobile data customers to 14.1 million.

He also announced that they have realigned sales and operation teams to be independently managed in six regions, with the sales teams and network teams in each region reporting to region’s head.

Tuesday 10 May 2016

Equity Group post Sh 5.1 billion net profit in Q1 2016

Equity Group has posted Sh5.1 billion net profit in the first quarter of 2016 up 19.4 percent from same period last year when they posted Sh4.2 billion.

Total assets grew to Sh430 billion up from Sh372 billion same period in 2015, while deposits stood at Sh300 billion in the period under review.

Loan portfolio went up to Sh272 billion from Sh224 billion recorded in March 31, 2015. 81 percent of loans came through mobile platform Equitel while the branch contributed to 19 percent of the loans disbursed during this first quarter.

Agency banking transactions value in the period under review stood at Sh102.1billion up from Sh74.5billon same period last year.

Mobile transactions through Equitel rose from 11 million to 45.6million a 315 percent increase from the previous year. This translates to a transaction value of Sh333.5 billion in the first quarter of 2016 from the Equitel mobile banking platform.The bank now has about 10 million customers out of which 1.2 million are accessing services through Equitel.

2016/2017 Budget Suggestion

The Cabinet Secretary The National Treasury - Mr. Henry Rotich would like to hear your thoughts, ideas and tips for the 2016/2017 Budget. Click here to submit your suggestion.

African Banker Awards 2016 to be held in Lusaka Zambia

African Banker Awards will be held in Lusaka, Zambia on 25/05/2016
Kenya Commercial Bank CEO Mr.Joshua Oigara has been nominated for Banker of the year.Kenya Commercial Bank,Safaricom and Equity Bank have been nominated in Various categories.
The awards are open to all African financial institutions, including banks, micro-financiers, investment banks, development finance institutions and other financial services institutions.

2016 Banker Awards Shortlist include
Banker of the Year
Segun Agbaje GTB Nigeria
Hisham Ezz el Arab CIB Egypt
Joshua Nyamweya Oigara KCB Kenya
Dr Charles Kimei CRDB Bank Tanzania
Paulo Alexandre Duarte de Sousa BCI Bank Mozambique

Bank of the Year
Attijariwafa, Morocco
Banque Centrale Populaire, Morocco
Guaranty Trust Bank, Nigeria
Standard Bank Group
Mauritius Commercial Bank, Mauritius

Best Retail Bank
BCI, Mozambique
CRDB Bank, Tanzania
Ecobank
Guaranty Trust Bank, Nigeria
KCB, Kenya

Investment Bank of the Year
Citigroup
Fieldstone
Lazard
Rand Merchant Bank
Vetiva

Award for Financial Inclusion
Attijariwafa Bank, Morocco
Banque Nationale pour le Developpement Economique, Senegal
Ecobank
Mastercard National Bank of Egypt
Safaricom and KCB, Kenya

CSR
Bank M, Tanzania
BMCE, Morocco
Commercial International Bank, Egypt
Ecobank
Standard Chartered, Zambia

Innovation
Bidvest and Mastercard, South Africa
Equity Bank, Kenya
Guaranty Trust Bank, Nigeria
Mauritius Commercial Bank, Mauritius
Ovamba Cameroon Solutions, Cameroon

Deal of the Year Equity
EDITA Food Industries IPO (EFG)
Mediclinic’s $2.1bn reverse takeover of Al Noor Hospitals (RMB)
Oando $290m rights issue (Vetiva)
Naspers $2.5bn Accelerated Equity Offering (Citi)
Saham’s acquisition of majority stake in Continental Re. (Stanbic IBTC)

Deal of the Year Debt
Accugas (FBN Capital)
Cameroon’s currency swap (Lazard)
Cote d’Ivoire Sukuk (ICD)
Richard Bay Minerals Syndicated Term (Rand Merchant Bank)
Transcorp Domestic Bond (United Capital and Stanbic IBTC)

Infrastructure Deal of the Year
Azura Edo IPP (Fieldstone; Rand Merchant Bank; Standard Bank; IFC)
Itezhi-Tezhi Hydro Power Station (Fieldstone)
Maamba Collieries (Barclays)
Minister of Finance Angola Roads Financing (Rand Merchant Bank)
Zina Solar One Power Solar Project (Rand Merchant Bank)

Tuesday 3 May 2016

Shortlist for Banker Africa-East Africa Awards 2016

The winners of the third East African Banking Awards will be announced in a ceremony at  Crown Plaza,  in Nairobi, Kenya, on 24th of May 2016. The list for Kenya nominees include:

Kenya Country Awards:
Best Retail Bank – Kenya:
  • CBA (Commercial Bank of Africa)
  • KCB (Kenya Commercial Bank)
  • Co-Operative Bank of Kenya
  • Diamond Trust Bank
  • NIC Bank
  • Equity Bank
Best Corporate Bank – Kenya:
  • CFC Stanbic
  • Standard Chartered Kenya
  • Barclays Bank Kenya
  • Co-Operative Bank of Kenya
  • I&M Bank
  • Diamond Trust Bank
Best Commercial Bank – Kenya:
  • KCB (Kenya Commercial Bank)
  • Equity Bank
  • Diamond Trust Bank
  • Barclays Bank Kenya
  • Standard Chartered Kenya
  • NIC Bank
Best Investment Bank – Kenya:
  • KCB Capital
  • CBA Capital
  • Faida Investment Bank
  • Dyer & Blair Investment Bank
  • CfC Stanbic
  • African Alliance
Best SME Bank – Kenya:
  • Co-operative Bank of Kenya
  • ABC Bank (African Banking Corporation)
  • CBA Group
  • KCB (Kenya Commercial Bank)
  • Family Bank Kenya
  • Consolidated Bank of Kenya Ltd
Best Online Platform – Kenya:
  • CBA Group
  • Equity Bank
  • Sidian Bank
  • NIC Bank
  • Diamond Trust Bank
  • Jami Bora Bank
Best Microfinance Bank – Kenya:
  • SMEP MFB Ltd
  • KWFT Bank
  • Rafiki Microfinance Bank
  • Century Microfinance Bank
  • Faulu Kenya
Best Customer Service – Kenya:
  • Diamond Trust Bank
  • NIC Bank
  • I&M Bank
  • Victoria Commercial Bank
  • Co-operative Bank Kenya
  • Standard Chartered Kenya
Best Emerging Bank – Kenya:
  • Sidian Bank
  • FCB (First Community Bank) Ltd
  • Victoria Commercial Bank
  • Jami Bora Bank
  • Guardian Bank
  • Fidelity Commercial Bank

Hf Group reports Ksh 470.5 M in Pre tax profit

HF Group has continued to post positive results due to the diversified banking, property development and bancassurance strategy. The  performance highlights include;
• Profit before tax increased to Kshs. 470.5 million during the quarter to March 31, 2016 compared to KShs. 320.4 over a corresponding period in 2015.
• Annualized earnings per share grew by 48 per cent in the quarter under review to KShs. 3.75 from KShs. 2.54 in during the first quarter of 2015.
• Net interest income went up to Kshs. 1 billion from KShs. 782.5 million.
• Total operating income rose to KShs. 1.2 billion from KShs. 950.9 million.
• The Group’s total assets stood at KShs. 72 billion by end of quarter ended March 2016, having grown from KShs. 62 billion in the first quarter of 2015.
• Loans and advances to HFC’s customers rose to KShs. 53.4 billion in the quarter to March 31, 2016 from KShs. 47.7 billion in the first quarter of 2015.
• Customer deposits at HFC grew to KShs. 41 billion during the quarter compared to KShs. 34.3 billion in the previous quarter.