Equity Group’s net profits for the first nine months of the year reached Sh34.6 billion, experiencing a 3.7 percent growth from the Sh33.4 billion reported in the same period last year.
This positive performance was attributed to double-digit growth from subsidiaries in the East African region, which offset the 20 percent decline in earnings from its Kenyan unit.
Despite Equity Bank Kenya, the group’s largest contributor to profits, recording a 20 percent drop in net profits to Sh19.34 billion, the overall growth was propelled by increased profitability in subsidiaries located in DR Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania.
In 2022, subsidiaries contributed 31 percent of Equity Group’s profits after tax, amounting to Sh11 billion. However, this figure has risen significantly to Sh18.5 billion, now constituting 53.5 percent of the net earnings for the reviewed period.
Remarkably, DR Congo’s Equity BCDC reported a substantial net profit growth of 142 percent to Sh11.4 billion, with expectations of surpassing Kenya in terms of return on equity and return on assets in the current financial year.
Meanwhile, the net profit of the Rwanda unit saw a 46 percent increase to Sh2.8 billion, and Uganda and Tanzania experienced a rise of 23 percent and 136 percent, reaching Sh2.1 billion and Sh0.7 billion, respectively. South Sudan, however, maintained a steady performance at Sh1.5 billion.
The group’s net interest income demonstrated robust growth, reaching Sh72.6 billion, a 21 percent increase attributed to expanded lending and loan repricing. Non-interest income also showed a significant uptick, rising by 40 percent to Sh57.8 billion.
Equity Group repriced about 65 percent of its loan book in Kenya, adjusting from approximately 13 percent to an average of 16.5 percent, according to Mary Njenga, head of financial and regulatory reporting at Equity Group.
