Equity reports 79 percent profit in Q3 results

NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 18 – Equity Group has reported a 79 percent Profit after tax from Ksh.15.0 Bn to Ksh.26.9 Billion in its third-quarter results

The profit before tax also rose by 85  percent to Sh3 6.6 Billion from Sh19.7 billion in Q3 2020.

Speaking during the group’s Investor Briefing session, James Mwangi, Equity Group’s managing director revealed that the increase was mostly credited to a defensive and offensive strategy adopted during the onset of the pandemic.

During the period under review, the interest income also grew by 29 percent to Sh 67Bn while total Assets for the Group grew by 27 percent to Sh 1.2Bn from Sh 933.9Bn recorded in 2020.

“The interest expenses have grown slightly higher because of the long-term funds from development banks as borrowed funds have grown from 105 billion from 70billion. This is because we needed to lengthen the maturity of funding portfolio to enable businesses to be able to take long-term loans” he added.

The firm’s Deposits grew by 27 percent to Sh 875.7bn from Sh 691 and Net Loans grew by 23percent to Sh 559Bn from Sh 453.9 Bn.

Additionally, Mwangi revealed that the Group and its partners had invested USD 513 M in Social Investment Programs in education, health, enterprise development, food and agriculture, social protection and energy and environment

Through the investment, he said the group hoped to catalyze and crowd-in investment flows and capacity building in the East African region

“Social capital is as good as financial capital, and Equity Group is a creation of its values and ethos. Our social impact programs reflect our Shared Prosperity Model, creating value within the economy and impacting communities on a daily basis,” Mwangi said.

Of the total, Sh 111.5 billion was disbursed to 183,358 Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) while Ksh.92.7 was disbursed via cash transfers.

Mwangi also noted that 74 percent of customers are using cashless payment capabilities rather than transacting in cash, therefore promoting a cashless economy.

The group recorded the highest growth of 408 percent in transaction count and a 392 percent growth in transaction value during the Q3 reporting period.

“The greatest adoption of digital channels has been on digital payments such as Pay with Equity. Our customers are therefore rapidly migrating from fixed and variable cost channels to self-service channel …and this has transformed equity bank into a technology platform on financial licenses,” he added.