Three mid-tier banks have posted mixed results in their half-year earnings released yesterday.
Ecobank’s half-year profits have jumped eightfold on increased foreign exchange trading and better management of its bad loans.
Profits by the continental lender for the six months to June touched Sh61 million from a 7.5 million net profit posted in a similar period last year.
The lender cut provisioning for bad loans from Sh188 million to Sh97 million on reduced lending and a dip in non-performing loans from Sh8.8 billion to Sh8.1 billion.
Staff rationalisation also minimised costs from Sh703 million to Sh693 million while rental charges were down Sh23 million.
Incomes, however, dipped on reduced lending, which came down from Sh20.7 billion to Sh14.3 billion while investment in government securities dipped by Sh2.6 billion.
Family Bank jumped back into profit-making territory, announcing net returns of Sh101.5 million in the first half of the year on cost containment and digital banking from a Sh492 million loss last year.
“We are optimistic of a stronger second half, riding on the traction on our digitisation strategy and support from our customers,” said Managing Director David Thuku. Total operating expenses fell by 11.9 per cent, closing the period at Sh3.1 billion from Sh3.5 billion, while income grew to Sh210 million on increased fees and commissions. Customer deposits, on the other hand, grew to Sh47.8 billion.
M-Oriental Bank, for its part, saw its net profits decline 42 per cent from Sh56.8 million in June last year to Sh32 million in the first half of this year.
This was mainly driven by reduced interest incomes from deposits and loans with other banks, which came down 63 per cent, chipping off part of incomes.
