as at June 2010
Bank Assets Pre-Tax-Profit
1. Barclays Kshs 173 billion ($2.16 billion), profit of Kshs 4.75 billion ($59.3 million)
2. KCB assets of Kshs 207 billion ($2.59 billion), profits of Kshs 4.34 billion ($54 million)
3. Equity 117,578 4,282
4. Standard Chartered 131,348 4,037
5. Cooperative 133,322 2,848
6. Diamond Trust 54,109 1,508
7. Citibank Kenya 63,812 1,499
8. Commercial Bank of Africa 60,229 1,465
9 Investment & Mortgages 56,630 1,239
10. National Bank of Kenya assets of 59,390 million ($742 million) and profits of Kshs 1,200 ($15 million) – then CFCStanbic (falling out of the top 10), NIC, Baroda, Imperial, and Bank of India.
Notes– KCB is the largest bank (and group) but is less profitable than Barclays which is the most profitable bank
– Equity may be the most profitable bank by next year: Five years ago (2006) they had 1/6 (Kshs 500m) of Barclays profits (Kshs 3 billion), now mid-way into 2010, they are the country’s 5th largest in assets, and 3rd in profits – and are about 7X large by both measures compared to five years ago, while KCB is 1.5X larger and Barclays is 0.5X larger than it was in 2006.
– Equity is perceived better in market terms than KCB though its half its size and has the same profits this year.
Changes since last year
– Credit sharing between banks is now being enforced
– Anti-money laundering law now in effect
– The Government of Kenya has set out to raise Kshs 31 billion ($388 million for infrastructure projects; Kenyan banks currently have almost half as much money invested in government securities as they do with loans to customers
– The new constitution passed this month means we will have currency without the face of a president (virtually all existing currency bear the portraits of Kenya’s past presidents) 
– Equity and several other Kenyan banks have decided to embrace and work with M-Pesa and other mobile money channels instead of fighting them
– Micro-finance institutions (MFI’s) are stepping up into the commercial banking sphere
Incoming banks (all of which have micro-finance origins)
– Faulu Kenya
– Jamii Bora (formerly City Finance)
– KWFT
Gone banks
– Southern Credit (bought by Equatorial)
– S&L (absorbed into KCB)
I think KWFT is also an incoming bank.Kudos to Equity too!
Thanks DialMoviez, KWFT too
Barclays number 1? thats nice. in my country they are not yet well known though. its zentih bank and gtb that make waves for us here!
“The new constitution passed this month means we will have currency without the face of a president”
I completely missed that part, so what will be the face of the new currency starting next year?
I am still keen to see how the m-kesho turn out in the long run. It seems now every bank has something closer to it.
The use of IT and IT solutions to solve Kenya’s banking problems will be key in determining the future of any bank in Kenya. The Kenyan client is more keen on hassle free IT oriented solutions than ever before.