Co-op Bank micro small and medium enterprise lending subsidiary Kingdom Bank Limited has profit before tax of Sh. 521.9 million in the first six months of 2023.
This was a 29 per cent growth from the Sh. 405.9 million that the bank recorded in the same period the previous year.
Before it was acquired by Co-op Bank, Kingdom Bank, formerly known as Jamii Bora Bank was trapped in a cycle of losses. In March 2022, the lender marked its return to profitability with a net profit of Sh. 498 million from a profit before tax of Sh. 512.4 million.
This was the first time that the bank was making a full year profit in a period of five financial years. Kingdom returned to profitability within one year of being operated by the Co-operative Bank.
In the first half of 2023, Co-op Bank’s other subsidiaries also recorded impressive growth. Co-op Consultancy & Bancassurance Intermediary Ltd posted a profit before tax of Sh. 591.3 million in, riding on strong penetration of Bancassurance business.
Co-operative Bank of South Sudan that is a unique joint venture partnership with Government of South Sudan made a profit before tax of Sh. 205.1 million in the first half of 2023.
This performance however translated to a monetary loss of Sh. 36.5 million that was attributed to hyperinflation accounting occasioned by currency devaluation of the South Sudanese pound.
On the other hand, Co-op Trust Investment Services Ltd contributed Sh. 106.8 million in profit before tax. This was an impressive growth of 25 per cent. This subsidiary has funds under management of Sh. 197.3 billion.
In the current period, Kingdom Bank’s parent bank, Co-op Bank recorded gains in the first six months of the current financial year.
During this period, the Co-op Bank half year net profit increased to Sh. 12.1 billion. This profit growth reflected a growth of 5.8 per cent which also saw the bank’s profit before tax increase to Sh. 16.4 billion.
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The profit before tax was a growth of 7.4 per cent from the Sh. 15.3 billion profit before tax that was recorded the previous year.
