Increased non-interest income lifts Barclays profits by 8 pc

Barclays Bank of Kenya has reported an eight per cent increase in half year net profit on the back of increased earnings from non-interest income lines.

The lender Thursday announced that its after-tax earnings for the six months to June grew to Sh4.6 billion, compared to Sh4.2 billion reported during a similar period last year.

Barclays, the latest top tier bank to release its H1 financials, said its non-interest income in the period under review by 12 per cent to Sh4.8 billion from Sh4.3 billion last year.

Some of these earnings came from new products such as bancassurance, mortgage and asset finances centres as well as the reintroduction of ATM fees.

“During the period under review, the bank made significant investments in new revenue streams to boost balance sheet growth,” said Jeremy Awori, the lender’s managing director.

“The launch of the mortgage centre in the first half is already yielding positive results for the bank.”

The lender’s net interest income grew four per cent to Sh10 billion while total assets grew 10 per cent to Sh235 billion compared to Sh213 billion during a similar period in 2014.

Customer deposits grew by 10 per cent to Sh163 billion, attracting an interest expense of Sh1.9 billion due to the high interest regime in the country.

Barclays announced that it will be paying an interim dividend of 20 cents per share, amounting to a Sh1.08 billion payout to shareholders by October.