The NCBA Bank Kenya is now the third largest bank in Kenya by market share. This is according to the newly released Central Bank of Kenya’s Bank Supervision Annual Report for 2023.
According to the report, the NCBA Bank Kenya was holding 64.5 per cent of the banking sector market share as at December 2023. The bank had assets worth Sh. 661.7 billion and total deposits of Sh. 529.1 billion.
The bank had the highest number of loan accounts at 8,338,595. It also had the second highest number of deposit accounts with a total of 30,803,966 accounts which was equivalent to 32.5 per cent of the market share.
In the rank of banks with the highest number of deposit accounts exceeding Sh. 500,000, NCBA Bank Kenya was ranked in the pole position. In the financial year ended December 2022, the bank had 146,396 accounts. In the financial year ended December 2023, this number grew by 184 per cent to 416,481 accounts.
For bank accounts with less than Sh. 500,000, the NCBA came in with a total of 30,387,485 as at the end of December 2023. At the end of the previous financial year, the local bank had closed with 29,330,294 accounts.
The CBK report shows that the NCBA Bank Kenya had total shareholders’ funds of Sh. 87.8 billion. This came in a year during which the larger NCBA Group’s net profit increased by 55.7 per cent to Sh. 21.4 billion. Operating income hit Sh. 63.6 billion while the group’s balance sheet expanded to an asset size of Sh. 734.6 billion.
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The report by CBK examined the financial performance of nine main local banks which included the NCBA, KCB Bank, Equity Bank, Co-operative Bank, Absa Bank, Standard Chartered, Stanbic Bank, I&M Bank, and Diamond Trust Bank.
The report also included medium banks and small banks. The medium banks ranking from top to bottom included the Bank of Baroda Kenya, Prime Bank, Citibank, Family Bank, Bank of India, National Bank, SBM Bank, and Eco Bank.
The small banks ranking from top to bottom included HFC (formerly Housing Finance), Victoria Commercial Bank, Bank of Africa, Gulf African Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, African Banking Corporation, Sidian Bank, Habib Bank AG Zurich, DIB Bank, UBA Bank.
Premier Bank, Credit Bank, Commercial International Bank, Kingdom Bank, Development Bank of Kenya, Guardian Bank Limited, M-Oriental Bank Kenya, Middle East Bank, Paramount Bank, Access Bank, Consolidated Bank, and Spire Bank.
In the current financial year, the bank has shown signs of a good performance for the year. For instance, in the first quarter, the NCBA Group returned a net profit of Sh. 5.3 billion on increased non-interest income and tax reduced expense.
“Our diversified business model continues to demonstrate growth and resilience with a strong contribution from our digital business and stable performance from our subsidiaries,” says NCBA Group chief executive officer John Gachora.
In the same vein, in Kenya, leading brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance has ranked NCBA as Kenya’s second fastest-growing brand in the 2024 ranking of the Top 25 Most Value Brands. This is an improvement of 44 per cent.
“This is a demonstration of relentless efforts in brand building that aligns well with customer needs,” says Gachora. “We have maintained asset finance market share leadership at 35 per cent and our growing deposit base indicates the ability to attract and serve more corporate and retail customers. Our regional branch expansion now reaching a footprint of 114 will ensure we offer superior experience and convenience through a bigger network.”