Equity Bank pretax profit rises in 2015 to Sh24 billion

Equity Bank's 2015 pretax profit rose to Sh24 billion from Sh22.4 billion a year earlier, helped by higher interest income, the Kenyan bank said on Tuesday.

Chief Executive Officer James Mwangi said there were also challenges from depreciation in regional currencies against the dollar and a slow performance at the lender's business in South Sudan, a nation stricken by conflict.

Equity Group also operates in Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo.

"Last year was one of the most turbulent years in terms of macroeconomic environment. We saw significant devaluation of the South Sudan Pound, where the currency was devalued by 84 percent," Mwangi told an investor briefing.

"We also saw in the fourth quarter, particularly in Kenya, significant interest rate volatility," he said.

The yield on Kenya's 91-day, 182-day and 364-day Treasury bills surged above 20 percent at the start of the fourth quarter, before sliding below 13 percent by the end of the year.

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The bank, the biggest in Kenya by number of depositors, said profit rose due to a jump in net interest income to 34.1 billion shillings from 29.2 billion shillings previously.

The bank said its loan book rose to Sh269.9 billion from Sh214.2 billion while the ratio of non-performing loans to total loans fell to 3.3 percent from 4.2 percent in 2014.

It said total assets rose to Sh428.1 billion from Sh344.6 billion, while customer deposits rose to Sh302.2 billion  from Sh245.6 billion.