Barclays Bank of Kenya (Barclays) is profit before tax increased by 51 percent in 2010 to Sh 13.5 billion from 2009's Sh 9 billion, with underlying profits excluding the sale of custody business increasing by 20 percent to Sh 10.7 billion.
The total assets of the bank strengthened to Sh 172 billion from Sh 165 billion in 2009, and its customer deposit base remained stable at Sh124 billion.
Barclays' shareholders at the annual general meeting held in Nairobi approved a final dividend of Sh 4.70 per share, bringing the total dividend payout to Sh5.45 per share for the year, an overall 118 per cent increase over 2009.
The shareholders also approved a share split of 4 for every 1 of the existing ordinary shares held to make Barclays shares more available on the Nairobi Stock Exchange.
The bank's chairman, Francis Okomo-Okello said, "Barclays has been an instrumental part of Kenya's banking sector for the past 95 years. During that time, we have withstood volatile markets, reinvented ourselves to meet market needs, and emerged as one of the most dependable financial institutions.
We feel privileged to be contributing to Kenya's economic growth through our consistent and solid business performance. Moreover, we are proud to serve our customers and the various communities in which we operate as part of our Citizenship agenda."
Okello said economic growth is expected to be registered in all sectors from the new constitution as it's set to contribute to balanced growth and stronger economics and political governance.
The chairman alluded their success to significant infrastructure (telecommunication and roads) investments; regional integration agenda; and monetary policy stance that is determined to spur innovation and create an enabling environment for greater distribution and affordability of financial services.
The stable macro economic conditions benefited not only the financial services rather most industries including manufacturing, information, communication and technology (ICT), agriculture, construction among others.
The managing director of the bank Adan Mohamed, said, “this solid financial performance continued into the First Quarter 2011 during which we also have seen good growth in total income - driven largely by interest margin management as well as an increase in customer assets.”
“We will continue to focus on providing the best value to our customers through enhanced propositions, better use of technology and strong cost efficiency,” added Mohamed.
The bank witnessed better than planned performance in its overall impairment with corporate loans reporting minimum loan impairments and customer loan recovery rates improving by 6 percent compared to the previous year, he said however, overall level of impairment increased by Sh 700 million.
The Business Club of the bank which was started 7 years ago, has seen its more than 4,000 members visiting Rwanda, Burundi, United States of America, Brazil and china among others for business contacts, which has enabled the members to expand their business as well as transacting Sh 3 billion worth business.
The Government's strategy to stimulate economic growth through increased private sector lending saw the Central Bank of Kenya monetary policy committee push rates to historical low. The yield curve dropped by more than 400 basis points significantly impacting accrual income. This saw the financial sector adjust the bench mark base lending rates downwards to reflect the credit easing approach adopted by the monetary policy committee.
Thus, Barclays MD says we delivered excellent financial results in 2010 in low interest environment. This was possible due to the roll – out of innovative products and services across the various business segments, enhanced business efficiency, and prudent margin management.”
During the meeting, shareholders approved the re-election of directors Brown Ondego, Jane Karuku and Nick Mbuvi.
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