Cooperative Bank Group says it made Kshs 6.1 billion in net profit during the first three months of this year. The profit represents an increase of 5.2% on to Kshs 5.8 billion that the lender posted during a similar period in 2022.
Cooperative Bank Group Managing Director Gideon Muriuki attributes the profit growth to strategic focus on sustainable growth, resilience and agility.
During the first three months of this year, net loans and advances increased 11% to Kshs 360.1 billion.
The lender made Kshs 17.9 billion in total operating income, which increased 6.5% from the Kshs 16.8 billion.
Net interest income rose 3.9% to Kshs 10.8 billion while total non-interest income increased 10.8% to Kshs 7.1 billion.
The total operating expenses increased 8.8% to Kshs 9.8 billion. This was partly on account of Cooperative Bank earmarking Kshs 1.5 billion for loan loss provision, which pushed up the Bank’s Loan Loss Reserve to Coverage levels to a high of 72%, up from 69% in 2021.
Muriuki says that even though its subsidiary, the Co-operative Bank of South Sudan made a pretax profit of Kshs 110 million. “This performance however translated to a monetary loss of Kshs 71.3 million attributable to hyperinflation accounting occasioned by currency devaluation of the South Sudanese pound,” he explained.
Another subsidiary, Co-op Consultancy & Bancassurance Intermediary Ltd posted a pretax profit of Kshs 336.4 million, riding on strong penetration of Bancassurance business.
Kingdom Bank Limited, which mainly focuses on MSMEs posted a pretax profit of Kshs. 256.3 billion while Co-op Trust Investment Services Ltd contributed Kshs 51.2 million in profit before tax.
He says Co-op Bank Group has successfully moved 91% of all customer transactions to alternative delivery channels such as 24-hour contact centre, 543 ATMs, mobile & internet banking and over 17,000 Co-op kwa Jirani agents.
“Key focus on digital banking, with the all-telco Mco-op Cash Mobile Wallet continuing to play a pivotal role in the growth of non-funded income with 5 million customers registered and loans worth Kshs 19.2 billion disbursed in quarter one of 2023, averaging over Kshs 6.4 billion per month,” said Muriuki.
The lender has opened three branches in Kenol Makuyu, Hindi and Bamburi pushing up its total branch network to 187, which includes four branches in South Sudan.