National Bank of Kenya (NBK) has recorded a Ksh150 million half year net profit for the year ending June 30, attributed to the savings on interest expenses, with key revenue streams remaining flat
The lender’s savings from interest expenses were about Sh300 million, attributable to a reduction of nearly Sh5 billion in customer deposits.
According to NBK CEO Wilfred Musau the bank reported a Ksh282 million lost in a similar period last year. NBK’s loan book also took a hit of Sh480 million, confirming its precarious financial condition as it continues to violate capitalisation requirements as set by the CBK.
“The bank achieved this lever of growth against the backdrop of a challenging environment, both externally and internally,” said Musau.
The remarkable results comes in the wake of Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) plan to waive the option to have NBK delisted from the Nairobi bourse even as a takeover move by the lender enters its final stretch.
KCB said that its decision to waive the delisting condition was because the NBK Board did not present a resolution to shareholders to have it delisted from the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) during the June Annual General Meeting.
At the same time, KCB said it would also not wait to acquire 100% of NBK shares and will proceed with the takeover.
So far, KCB has received acceptances of over 262 million shares out of the more than 338 million NBK shares. This amounts to 77.6% of NBK shares being accepted as part of the share swap deal in the takeover by KCB.
“Noting that the conditions relating to delisting and acceptances are legally capable of waiver, KCB has determined to waive the two conditions,” the public announcement signed by the KCB Board said.
The transaction will need approval from the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), the Competition Authority and shareholders before it is finalized.
