The Co-operative Bank has paid its shareholders Sh. 8.8 billion in dividends. The money was paid out on Monday June 10,2024 following an approval by the Co-op Bank shareholders.
At the same time, Co-op Bank has built “sufficient capital buffers” through a prudent retention strategy that has boosted total shareholder funds to Sh127 billion.
The dividend payments followed an impressive full year performance which saw Co-op Bank record a net profit growth to Sh. 23.2 billion for the full year ended December 2023. This represented a 5.2 per cent growth from the Sh. 22 billion net profit that was posted in a similar period the previous year.
Following this profit growth, the lender has announced that it will pay dividend at a rate of Sh. 1.5 per share which has now been settled.
This profit growth was largely fueled by increased income and reduced operating costs. In addition to this, Co-op Bank’s asset base grew 10.5 per cent to Sh. 671 billion while customer deposits grew 6.6 per cent to Sh. 451.6 billion.
“The strong performance has led to a sustained increase in shareholder value as reflected in the competitive return on equity of 21 percent,” Co-op Bank’s chief executive officer Dr. Gideon Muriuki said. “The Co-operative Bank Group continues to pursue strategic initiatives that focus on resilience and growth in the various economic sectors.”
In the current financial year that will conclude on December 31, Co-op Bank shareholders can look out for another improved performance that promises another bumper dividend payments. Already, in the first quarter of 2024 that ended on March 31, the bank has made a net profit of Sh. 6.58 billion.
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This represents a profit growth of 7.7 per cent compared to the Sh. 6.11 that the bank recorded in the same period the previous year. The bank’s total assets have also increased 13.2 per cent to over Sh. 714.6 billion.
