Barclays remains as Kenya’s leading bank by a large margin, with only one month left in the year. The industry remains largely profitable, with only two banks likely to make losses – Bank of Africa (9m) and Oriental (4m) so far. Figures are in million of shillings and are as at the quarter ended September 2005.

total assets
Barclays 106,667 (i.e. 107 billion shillings)
Standard Chartered 71,077
Kenya Commercial 70,913
Cooperative 49,434
National Bank of Kenya 35,942
Citibank Kenya 31,751
Commercial Bank of Africa 29,201
NIC 19,952
CFC 18,617
Investment & Mortgages 17,413

customer deposits
Barclays 84,006
Standard Chartered 58,444
Kenya Commercial 57,619
Cooperative 40,941
National Bank of Kenyan 28,168
Commercial Bank of Africa 25,631
Citibank Kenya 23,576
NIC 16,339
CFC 14,591
Investment & Mortgages 14,307

net loans to customers
Barclays 63,847
Kenya Commercial 32,701
Cooperative 30,028
Standard Chartered 29,859
National Bank of Kenya 23,507
NIC 13,484
CFC 11,755
Commercial Bank of Africa 11,141
Citibank Kenya 10,888
Investment & Mortgages 10,462

profit before tax
Barclays 3,375 (3.375 billion shillings)
Standard Chartered 2,595
Kenya Commercial 1,225
Citibank Kenya 908
National Bank of Kenya 629
Cooperative 607
Commercial Bank of Africa 603
Equity 352
Investment & Mortgages 349
NIC 305

Return on Assets
Dubai 4.76%
Development Bank of Kenya 4.38%
Standard Chartered 3.65%
Equity 3.52%
Barclays 3.16%
Charterhouse 3.10%
Citibank Kenya 2.86%
Credit 2.55%
Transnational 2.53%
Equatorial 2.46%

Return on Equity
Commercial Bank of Africa 31.26%
Barclays 30.80%
Standard Chartered 30.79%
National Bank of Kenya 25.98%
Equity 25.09%
Habib AG 22.55%
Imperial 20.08%
Baroda 19.40%
Citibank Kenya 19.04%
Investment & Mortgages 19.01%

Raking in those charges
(While foreign banks are frequently criticized for exploiting Kenyans through high bank charges, it is local banks who are more dependent on such income – since foreign banks have bigger loan books and thus higher interest income).

Percentage of income from fees, commission and other sources:
Oriental (formerly Delphis) 85.26%
Consolidated 52.98%
Equity 52.16%
Kenya Commercial 49.51%
Cooperative 46.39%
Citibank Kenya 46.28%
Commercial Bank of Africa 46.00%
EABS 45.92%
Barclays 40.90%
Standard Chartered 39.73%

Easy Money
Ratio of bank investment in safe government securities versus riskier loans to customers.

Habib AG 253.58%
Bank of India 185.54%
Baroda 137.16%
Development Bank of Kenya 128.29%
Standard Chartered 80.14%
Citibank Kenya 72.44%
Commercial Bank of Africa 57.91%
ABC 57.25%
Fina 55.88%
Kenya Commercial 46.19%

Where the money is
Cash rich banks.

Citibank Kenya 8,867 (8.867 billion shillings)
Commercial Bank of Africa 6,742
Kenya Commercial 3,702
Imperial 2,148
Cooperative 2,114
Equity 2,056
Barclays 1,897
Diamond Trust 1,699
NIC 1,632
Housing Finance 1,531

Total Non Performing Assets
National Bank of Kenya 17,100
Kenya Commercial 12,641
Barclays 11,627
Cooperative 9,217
Housing Finance 3,388
Standard Chartered 1,672
Commercial Bank of Africa 1,192
EABS 1,142
Oriental (formerly Delphis) 1,004
Consolidated 742

Insider Loans
National Bank of Kenya 16,734
Kenya Commercial 3,340
Barclays 2,942
Commercial Bank of Africa 1,262
Cooperative 1,225
Standard Chartered 866
NIC 534
CFC 461
Transnational 451
Diamond Trust 296

Over/under value?
Standard Chartered and Kenya Commercial Bank, banks 2 and 3, are almost identical in most major categories (assets, deposits, loans, and income) while varying in profit before tax (SC 2.6b to KCB’s 1.2b) and insider loans & non performing (which are historical problems of KCB). Yet KCB’s share price has risen steadily to 104 this year while Standard Chartered has hovered at 130 – 140 during the same period.