Barclays Bank of Kenya, is now the best performing bank in the Kenyan banking sector with regards to shares. In the last 3 months (June, July and August) of 2019, its shares registered a gain of about 6%.
Based on the closing price of last week (10.95 Kenyan Shillings), Barclays Bank of Kenya has a dividend yield of 11% as opposed to the industry average of 5%.
The bank which is currently in the process of rebranding to Absa, achieved a fantastic performance in the first half of 2019, as it posted a 19% Growth normalized profit before tax in the same 6 month period in 2019 to 6.3 billion Kenyan Shillings.
Removing the 561 million Kenyan Shillings which was channeled towards modernization projects, which are part of its transition into Absa, Barclays Bank of Kenya recorded the highest growth in profitability among the listed Kenyan Banks.
The financial institution’s assets grew by 12% to 354 billion Kenyan Shillings, as its cost to income ratio improved to 51.5% as a result of a marginal decrease in operating expenses to 10 billion Kenyan Shillings.
According to various analysts who have recommended a strong buy rating on its stock, the bank’s plan to rebrand will enable properly adopt a more customer based approach to business.
Deposits by Barclays Bank of Kenya’s customers, grew by 6% to 230 billion Kenyan Shillings while its customer advances and loans spiked up by 6% to 187 billion Kenyan Shillings.
The financial institution’s total income also increased by 4% to 16.3 billion Kenyan during the same period, and was driven by its core business as well as its non-funded income which saw an increase of 13%, a by product of the growth in fees and commissions which also include revenue from its loan and digital banking service; Timiza.
Timiza also brought its total customer or user number, 4 million.
The Managing Director of Barclays Bank of Kenya; Jeremy Awori said, “We are pleased with our financial performance for the first half of 2019 and are optimistic about the future of our business. With Absa, we see ourselves transforming to an even more locally relevant financial institution focused on bringing possibilities to life for the Kenyan people.”
The financial institution has declared an interim dividend of 0.20 Kenyan Shillings.
