Category Archives: Ecobank

Kenya Bank Rankings: June 08 Briefs

ABC; assets up 16%, deposits 17 and loan 7%, income is up 12% but expenses up 17% with no growth in 2008. Too early to tell about kisima at this indigenous bank>
Bank of Africa : deposits up 20% and loan 34%, income 51% with expenses up 41% but NPA also up 59%. French bank, quiet style, but making more marketing efforts to shore up size.
Barclays: assets up 22%, profit 21%, deposits 22% and loans up 30%. Income is up 35% from a year ago but expenses up 45%. In 2008, deposits are up 18% but loans up 1% – change of direction? Did not actively participate in Safaricom, and this big bank everyone (unfairly) watches to see how they react to Equity Bank
Baroda: profit up 31% deposits 9%, and loans up (staggering for them) 57%, in 2008, both income and expenses are up 29%, and though deposits are flat, loans are up 25% – no longer playing safe
Chase: asset up 76% deposits 58% and loan 88%. Income is up 48% but expenses up 75% and NPA 86%. in 08 loans up 29% and deposits up 51% at this fast growing local bank which has now ventured into stockbrokerage as Gencap
Citibank: assets up 65% and profit up 74%. 2008 looking even better as income is up 49% compared to just 7% in expenses, and remains immune (and insignificant) to parent turmoil
City Finance: assets up 2% , deposits up 12% strategy shifting with shifting bank with loans down 59% government securities and placements up by higher margin from a year ago. Just 8 million in staff costs in six months?
Commercial Bank of Africa: (CBA) assets and profit up 21% loans up 52%, and income up 23% compared to expenses 26%. Increased lending in 08 with 36% loan growth since December. Blue chip bank adjusting to the times, quietly did Safaricom IPO and dabbles in insurance
Consolidated: assets up 6% deposits 24% and loans 36% – with income and exp up 10%. Up for sale, can’t list so likely to be sold privately, and hopefully without controversy
Cooperative (Co-op) : asset up 23% profit 51% loan 44%, and NPA down 54% but insider lending up 40% from a year ago. IPO set for October 20 this year – but has it cleaned up enough legacy bad debt?
Credit: asset up 23% profit up 36% deposits up 25% and loans 44%
Development bank of Kenya (DBK) – assets up 33% deposits up 41% and loans 53%. The
Development financier is up for sale by the Government (ICDC)
Diamond Trust: asset up 40% deposits 37% loan 34%, income up 45% but expense up 64% as bank continues its expansion in Kenya, Uganda Tanzania and Burundi (every other bank says Rwanda)
Dubai Bank asset up 5% deposits 8% income 18% expenses up 13%, somehow translating to profit rise of 85%
Ecobank (formerly EABS) assets and deposits up 4%. Income up 34% and expenses up 10%. The parent Ecobank is currently raising $2.5 billion, (equivalent to Barclays Kenya assets) – showing how far Kenyans banks have to go in the big leagues
Equatorial: assets up 26% deposits 29% , income 21% but expenses up 31%, with no growth in 08
Equity 100% growth in assets loans and profits, and 78% in loans. Income up 140%, with expenses up 106% from a year ago. How long can this exponential growth go on?
Family bank : assets up 39% deposits 23% loan 52%, but income has tripled as have expenses at ‘Equity Blue’
Fidelity: asset up 29% deposits 36% loans 40%
Fina: Assets up 13%, deposits 14% and loan 32%. Income up 26% but expenses up 47% leading to a 24% lower profit. Many banks encroaching on the turf they created in Rwanda
Giro: assets up 1%, , deposits flat but loans up 10% , income up 26% with expenses up 10% – also leading to a surprising 86% profit surge
Guardian: assets and deposits up 11%. Income up 37% with expenses up just 26% leading to a profit surge of 76%
Habib AG Zurich: assets up 10% profit 22% deposits 13% and loans 31%
Habib Bank: assets up 4% from year ago, but no growth in 2008
Housing finance: asset up 34% deposits up 15% and loans up 27%. But profit down 20% (income up 1% while expense up 5%). in 08 deposits are up 5% and loans up 15%. Raised new funds from shareholders and will expect a boost from Equity Bank as anchor shareholder
Imperial; assets up 16%, deposits and loans up 22%. One bank reputed to have the fewest customers, but massive profits from them
(Bank of) India: asset and loans up 15%, with profit up 35%
I&M: asset and loans up 33%, income up 25% as expenses up 16%. Shareholders funds up 60% from new investors and the bank is opening new urban branches
KCB: assets up 66%, and deposits up 20%. Profits are up 77% (income up 50% with expenses up 38%) from a year ago. New funds raised, going regional in eastern Africa and will be cross-listed as well.
K-Rep: assets up 13%, deposits 15 % loans 10%. Income up 12% but expenses up 33% leading to a sharp drop in profit
Middle East: income up 15% and expenses up 33%
National Bank of Kenya assets up 3%, deposits and loans virtually unchanged, but income up 16% as expenses up just 4% leading to a surge in profit of 46% . government shareholding is up for sale
NIC: asset up 37% deposits 31% and loans 39%. Profits are up 38%, as income is up 26% with expenses up 17%. Expanding their stockbrokerage operation, and also opening new branches,
Oriental: assts up 12% deposits up 32% and loans 16%
Paramount Universal: assets up 13% with deposits and loans up 17% at one of the smallest banks
Prime Bank: super growth, with asset up 59%, deposits 57%, loans 66%. Income up 56% with expenses up 30% leading to a surge in profit up 98%
Southern Credit; assets up 9%, deposits and loans up 10% – but income is up 14% with expenses up 31%
Standard Chartered; sleeping giant – assets up 2% profit 1% deposits down 2%, but loan up 15%. Income up 6% but expenses up 10% from a year ago
Transnational: assets up 19% profits 16% deposits 23% and loans 19%
Victoria: flat, assets down 2%. Deposits are down 34% as loan up 18% – and income is up 18% but expenses are up 58%

Kutwa Tuesday: July 8 Briefs

away from the Grand Regency

Banking
– CFC/Stanbic merger/takeover formalized: As at June 1, the combined banking groups had assets of 78.3 billion shillings [$1.26 billion], deposits of 55 billion [$888 m] and loans of 38.9 billion [$627m]
– EABS Bank is now Ecobank Kenya
– Business Cubs: Bank of Africa will launch a small business Club for clients.
Going international: building on the success of Safaricom’s M-Pesa, Vodafone will do money transfer between UK and Kenya challenging western union on phone transfers to India, Turkey, Egypt and South Africa (from Balancing Act Africa)

Investments
– Everyone lovers Safaricom; with 90% of the shares volumes since listing, the company has been added to the AIG index, NSE 20 and NASI indexes from July 1
– One month after Safaricom allocations, and despite paying an extra fee (30/= for a CDS statement) and making several trades, no new CDS statement has come in the mail

Media
– KTN joins the morning show club with Sunrise Live – coming a few months after Citizen TV and Nation (NTV) with their ‘breakfast shows’
– There’s a new relaunched Standard newspaper out today with new layout – but their byline For Fairness, Justice, and Prosperity is straight out of Superman

Energy
– Sweden/China joint oil search: Lundin Kenya has bought a share of the field assigned to China [Block 9, Kenya].

Travel
– Having moved to cut out travel agents, Kenya Airways will next offer hotel and car booking online at their website
– Rift Valley Railways (RVR) will raise freight charges up 14.5% and will charge a fuel surcharge based on average diesel cost and US$ exchange rate from 1st august

Other
– Kenya has no summer or winter, but the high court has a summer vacation from 1st to 8th August

Questions from the blogs
– A recap of the Kenya Re AGM
– Has tourism in the Mara recovered in 2008?
– Does EDGE or 3G after all?

Opportunities

Digital: KDN and the ICT Kenya Digital Village are offering free connectivity for digital villages and schools: the program targets rural cyber cafes and schools – who are willing to pay a set- up fee, and share some revenue earned with KDN

Investments
– The Barclays Bond closes tomorrow (9/7)
– KCB rights close on 18/7 – so far only NBK has offered loans for KCB rights (up to 90% finance)

Jobs
– EABL: logistics manager, governance improvement manager, group audit & risk manager, application support analyst, procurement managers (2). Apply to hr.recruitment@eabl.com
– The electoral commission of Kenya: registrar of political parties, internal audit manager, finance officer. D/L is 23/7 by snail mail
– Captains of B1900 C and D at executive turbine. Apply through info@xturbine.co.ke
– Film commission of Kenya: head of programmes, hear of HR & administration, head of finance, Programmes manager, marketing assistant, legal assistant, ICT assistant, executive secretary. Apply to ceo@filmingkenya.com by 18/7
– Keroche: distributors, area sales representatives. Apply to director.marketing@keroche.com by 11/7
National Oil Corp of Kenya: risk analysts, internal audit assistant, procurement analysts, supply analyst
– Executive director of the privatization commission which became operational in January 2008. Apply (through deloitte) to esd@deloitte.co.ke (22/7)
– Resources manager at the Rockefeller foundation. Apply (though KPMG) to esd@kpmg.co.ke by 11/7

and
Marie Stopes: deputy director of male circumcision project (africa) [location: zambia} and male circumcision partnership deputy project manager [location: zimbabwe] d/l is 19/7

Scholar/internships
Rhodes Scholarships (2) for Kenyans. D/L is 31/8
– World Bank young professionals program. D/L is 15/7

Kutwa: Tuesday: Pick out a positive story

Bank Round-up
Co-op Bank extends its banking hours from the now less-traditional 9 to 3 to 9 a.m. to 4. p.m. daily and up to noon on Saturdays.

bold Equity Bank announced plans last week to open new branches in Kisumu, but that was before a new outbreak of violence over the weekend and the fatal shooting of an opposition MP this morning.

– The Business Daily reports that West African giant Ecobank, plans to take over a majority stake in limping mortgage bank EABS whose recent growth had lagged most of its peers

NIC Bank to convert this cashless ATM points into full branches and expand its network.

capital flight: A leading multi-national bank is considering moving an African operations department out of Nairobi, and to another country. The amount of capital flight (money leaving the country) is also at an alarming high.

Other sectors
Valentine’s day massacre?; What does Naivasha flare up mean for some flower farms who Valentine’s Day (Feb 14) shipment/sales can account for up to ½ their turnover in a year ?
– Nairumor that a blue chip CEO and turnaround specialist will resign next month in search of (foreign) greener pastures
– The Harvard Business School’s Africa Business Conference is on February 15-17, 2008 in Boston MA. Details from YAP
– Some troubling signs and even more today.
– Another regional airline upstart is Executive Turbine, flying 4X weekly to Kisumu for Kshs. 3,540 ($70). Regional airlines should be added to the earlier post on election winners.

Trivia
Will ‘President Obama’ need Equity Bank? – because 46% of African American household’s don’t have bank accounts – he can tap Equity Bank’s revolutionary model to bring banking to the unbanked.

wish I was in France: It’s better to be a rogue trader facing charges for misplacing $7 billion. But it’s also a reminder that financial shenanigans are still rarely punished and prosecuted in Kenya. E.g. Francis Thuo. (and maybe Mr. Kerviel would rather have worked for a Kenyan bank instead)

Knocking on bankings’ door

Family Bank: Family Finance will be the next bank licensed in Kenya within the next month as the building society will covert into Family Bank. Some have called the fast rising institution and Equity clone with better stripes but it will fit in as the 22nd largest of Kenya’s Banks.

Gulf African: Also in the running in 2007 is Gulf African Bank which is backed by a consortium of Middle East financial institutions.

MEGA bank: Interesting read here on the challenges and plans of the proposed MEGA bank.

mega bank # 2
CFC’s share price has stabilized after the initial confirmation of talks with Stanbic. It has since steadily risen as proper analysis of the proposal merger has been taking place.

mega bank # 3
Will criticism by the SA Central bank governor scuttle part two of the Barclays Absa deal?

mega bank # 4
Is Nakumatt a Bank? It follows in the path of Wal-Mart but has not indicated any such leanings. However an organization that takes in over 70 million shillings a day ($1 million) and doesn’t have to pay its creditors for 30 days has to be a major player in the banking and investment world.

edit
Ecobank here soon too.

finally a non banking story but a major corporate headache as Ribena (remember mothers who care trust Ribena? ) may not all that it advertises itself to be!