Kenya Commercial Bank has a strong headroom to finance big projects across East Africa on the back of high capital and liquidity buffers, Global Credit Ratings has said.
The African-focused rating agency assigned an AA rating for KCB in the long term and A1+ in the short term with respect to its ability to bankroll capital-intensive projects, the highest rating for a Kenyan bank accorded by Global Credit Ratings (GCR).
“KCB’s strong market position within the regional banking space makes it well positioned to take advantage of positive growth in infrastructure and other developments within the local economy and within the East African bloc,” GCR said in a statement.
GCR said the ratings reflect KCB’s credit strength and its established regional franchise, dominant market size, profitable business model, prudent capital levels and support from its shareholders.
EXPANSION
KCB Group operates across six East African countries — Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan — targeting both retail and wholesale market segments.
“The ratings are a confirmation that we are a true heritage of this region and pledge to continue transforming lives and deepening financial inclusion,” Joshua Oigara, the bank’s group chief executive, said in a statement.
The bank is eying expansion to six new markets in the next decade. These are Ethiopia, Zambia, Somalia, Djibouti, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
At the end of 2014, the bank had a capital adequacy ratio of 21 per cent. Gross non-performing loan ratio declined from 8.1 per cent in 2013 to 6.3 per cent in 2014.