Kenya: Stanbic doubles dividend on high earnings growth

Stanbic Holdings has more than doubled its dividend payout for the year ended December to Sh9 per share or a total of Sh4.2 billion.

The lender had paid a dividend of Sh3.8 per share or an aggregate of Sh1.8 billion for the prior financial year.

The Nairobi Securities Exchange -listed firm had already paid an interim dividend of Sh1.7 per share and has proposed a final payout of Sh7.3 per share to investors who will be on the May 20 register.

The larger dividend comes after the bank’s net income jumped 38.8 percent to Sh7.2 billion on reduced loan impairment and higher interest income.

Credit impairment charges shrunk by Sh2.3 billion to Sh2.5 billion, reflecting improved loan repayments and the brightening economic prospects.

“We have seen a rebound in a number of key sectors of the broader economy that we operate in like agriculture, floriculture and infrastructure investments,” Stanbic Bank Kenya’s chief executive Charles Mudiwa said.

“We have improved the efficiency of our collection strategies and basically, we are also seeing a better business outlook from our customers,” he added.

The bank is the main subsidiary of Stanbic Holdings.

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic saw banks raise their loan loss provisions substantially to absorb actual and anticipated defaults.

The economy has been recovering from the impact of the pandemic as travel and other restrictions were removed and fatalities decline.

Consolidated net interest income increased 12.3% to Sh14.3 billion as Stanbic Bank Kenya expanded lending to customers to Sh185.3 billion from Sh158.1 billion.

The group’s investment in financial assets including government securities dropped 32% to Sh59.5 billion.

Non-interest revenue including fees and commissions rose 1.7% to Sh10.6 billion, slowed down by waiver on charges on bank-to-mobile transactions.

South Africa’s Standard Bank is in the process of purchasing more shares in Stanbic Holdings to attain a 75% stake after receiving further regulatory approvals.

Standard Bank, which had raised its ownership in the subsidiary to 72.25% as of December 2021, now has up to the end of this year to buy the remaining 10.5 million shares based on prevailing prices on the NSE.