Diamond Trust Bank (DTB) made Ksh 4.9 billion in net profit during the first six months of this year, representing a 12% growth. However, the lender has not declared any interim dividend payout to shareholders.
The profit was driven by a 17.9% increase in total interest income to Kshs 29.3 billion. This was mainly powered by interest income from loans and advances and investment in government securities.
The lender booked Kshs 15.98 billion from interest income from loans and advances, representing a 21.4% increase.
This is despite DTB trimming its loans and advances to customers from Kshs 281.2 billion to Kshs 267.9 billion.
This was mainly on account of growing gross non-performing loans that rose from Kshs 36.5 billion to Kshs 38.6 billion.
The increase in the stock of non-performing loans saw the lender increasing its loan loss provision from Kshs 15.6 billion to Kshs 16.4 billion.
DTB Group Chief Executive Officer, Nasim Devji, says: “We managed to grow customer deposits to Ksh 432 billion and stabilise our non-performing loans portfolio while accelerating our customer acquisition and service, sustainability excellence and digital transformation efforts as customers continued to Bank with us and Bank on us.”
The lender booked Kshs 6.4 billion in non-interest income that was mainly driven by forex trading income that dipped 5.4% to Kshs 2.6 billion.
DTB’s subsidiaries in Tanzania, Uganda, and Burundi contribution to pretax profits, improved to 35%, up from 23% posted within the same period last year, reflecting enhanced performance, particularly in Tanzania.
“The improved performance reflects the group’s inherent resilience and diversity, drawing from its growing presence in markets outside Kenya, where we continue to optimise on existing and emerging opportunities,” Devji said.
On the other hand, the total operating expenses rose 12% to Kshs 14.2 billion.
“The operating expenses increased to Ksh 10.6 billion, up from Ksh 9.4 billion, due to significant investments made in building robust digital platforms, expanding branch footprint and talent to support the delivery of the business growth strategy,” DTB Finance & Strategy Director Alkarim Jiwa said.
DTB’s total assets increased 1% to Kshs 585.4 billion.