Spire Bank Loan Book: Spire Bank has sank deeper into a credit mess with its loan defaults now more than its entire loan book. In the half year ended June 2021, the lender’s gross non-performing loans stood at Sh. 2.64 billion.
This was a drop from Sh. 2.69 billion which was recorded a year earlier. This was also the above net loans and advances to customers which dropped by 28 percent to Sh. 2.36 billion from Sh. 2.97 billion.
As at September last year, borrowers had defaulted a record 90.65 percent of all loans given out by the bank. Gross non-performing loans (NPLS) hit Sh. 2.69 billion against the Sh. 2.96 billion that had been lent out.
The bank’s NPLs ration was nearly seven times that of the entire banking industry. This further aggravated the market position of the bank that has failed to meet Central Bank of Kenya’s market regulations over the last few years.
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Currently, Spire has a negative core capital of Sh. 3.14 billion, meaning that it requires Sh. 4.14 billion to meet the CBK minimum capital of Sh. 1 billion.
The bank has also been on a loss making streak. It last made a profit eight years ago while still trading as Equatorial Commercial Bank (ECB), has seen its accumulated losses hit Sh. 8.92 billion in the process.
The bank has been seeking investors to pump in the much needed capital to stabilize its operations. Some investors, have however, backed out deals with the bank in the last minute. One of these is  UK-based crypto lender BlockBank.