Barclays Bank of Kenya’s first-half pretax profit rose 12 percent largely due to a surge in customer loans and net interest income, the bank said on Tuesday.
Jeremy Awori, the managing director for the bank that is controlled by Barclays Plc, said in a statement that profit came in at 6.1 billion shillings ($69.36 million), with the loan book growing by 20 percent to 128 billion shillings.
Analysts said improved performances from subsidiaries in nearby countries were also a factor.
The bank’s profit lagged its rivals Equity Bank, the countries biggest by deposits, and KCB, the largest by assets.
Barclays said its net interest income grew by 5 percent to 9.7 billion shillings, while non-interest income fell by 5 percent mainly due to a decline on foreign exchange income following a stable currency market.
The bank said it will not pay an interim dividend to enable it to meet new capital requirements set by the Central Bank of Kenya and raise capital for investment. It paid an interim dividend of 0.20 shillings per share in the year-ago period.
Barclays announced plans to open a mortgage centre to help increase lending to home buyers, as well as an investment banking arm to play a bigger role in the debt and equity capital markets as well as mergers and acquisitions.
