Standard Charter Becomes Kenya’s Third Most Profitable Bank

Standard Chartered (StanChart) has displaced another UK bank, Barclays to become Kenya’s third most profitable bank, overtaking Barclays in profit earned for the first time in three years.  Since 2010, the LSE-listed bank has trailed Kenya’s top three high flyers, KCB, Equity and Barclays, coming fourth in earnings during this period.  However, its 2013 financial results showed profit after tax (PAT) of Sh9.2 billion ($106 million), 14 percent higher than Barclays’ Sh7.9 billion ($91.05 million).

KCB and Equity Bank outpaced others in profitability last year, raking in Sh14.3 billion ($164.8 million) and Sh13.2 billion ($152.1 million) respectively, while Co-op Bank trailed closely behind StanChart with Sh9.1 billion ($104.9 million), Business Daily reported. Lamin Manjang, CEO of StanChart Kenya, was quoted by Business Daily as saying,  “The Kenyan banking market is dynamic and getting increasingly competitive.  We will continue to leverage on the advantage of being a local and international bank to serve our customers across several markets.”

StanChart, the thirteenth largest company on the London Exchange, experienced its best performance in Kenya in 2009 when it emerged the second most profitable with a net profit of Sh4.7 billion ($51.2 million).  Barclays was however ranked the most profitable that year, returning a profit of Sh6.09 billion($70.2 million).

Source: Ventures Africa