Two of Kenya’s largest banks made a combined net profit of Sh110.6 billion. The two banks, KCB Group and Equity Group Holdings also recorded a combined Sh2.78 trillion in total deposits.
Individually, KCB saw a drop of 18.4 percent in customer deposits to Sh1.38 trillion from Sh1.69 trillion in the previous year while Equity saw a growth of 3 percent in customer deposits to Sh1.4 trillion.
On individual net profits for the year under review, KCB realized a Sh61.8 billion profit after tax while Equity realized a 11.6 percent growth in net profit to Sh48.8 billion.
When it came to assets, KCB’s total assets closed at Sh1.96 trillion. This was a 10 percent drop in assets, which the bank attributed to an appreciation of the Kenyan currency against foreign currencies. On the other hand, Equity closed the financial year under review with Sh1.8 trillion in total assets.
The first signs that the two lenders were set to break records came from their quarter three results that were released in November 2024. KCB Group and Equity Group made a combined, record-breaking net profit of Sh. 86.7 billion in the first nine months of the year.
Out of this net profit in 9 months, KCB made Sh. 45.8 billion net profit while Equity Bank made Sh. 40.9 billion.
KCB Group beats Equity Group by Sh13 billion in full year net profit race
This was an improvement on the equally record breaking half year profit that the two mega banks had posted for the period that ended on June 30, 2024. During that period, KCB Group and Equity Group had made a combined half year net profit of Sh. 59.5 billion.
Out of this, KCB Group realized a net profit of Sh. 29.9 billion while Equity Group recorded a net profit of Sh. 29.6 billion.
In the full year under review, Equity Group led in paying out dividends. The bank raised its dividend by 6.2 percent to Sh4.25 per share from the Sh4 per share dividend that was paid out in the previous 2023 financial year. In total, shareholders will receive Sh16 billion in dividend. In contrast, KCB announced that its total dividend for the year under review will be Sh3 per share. In total, the bank will pay its shareholders Sh9.6 billion in total dividend.
