StanChart earnings dip 28 per cent on bad loans

Standard Chartered Bank Kenya recorded a 28 per cent drop in net profit in the first quarter ended March, as bad debts took a toll on its earnings.

The bank reported a net profit of Sh1.8 billion in the three months compared to Sh2.5 billion a year earlier.

This makes it the second major lender to announce a profit drop after CfC Stanbic whose net earnings fell by a similar margin to Sh1.1 billion between January and March.

“The first quarter performance was subdued largely due to the after-effects of the sharp increase in our non-performing loan book in 2014,” StanChart’s CEO Lamin Manjang said in a statement.

Speaking during the bank’s AGM held on Thursday, the chairperson, Anne Mutahi, said non-performing loans had increased due to tightened regulations from the Central Bank of Kenya last year.

“We expect that after compliance, the non-performing loans will reduce from the high of 372 per cent increase to a low of about 5 per cent,” said Mrs Mutahi.