The Co-operative Bank of Kenya has recorded a 56 per cent before tax growth in the first quarter of 2022 as compared to the same period last year.
In a statement dated Thursday, May 26, the bank reported a profit before tax of Ksh7.78 billion, a positive deviation from that of the first quarter of 2021 which stood at Ksh4.98 billion.
This represents a strong profit after tax of Ksh5.8 billion compared to Ksh3.5 billion reported in 2021 representing a Return on Equity of 23.8% to the shareholders.
According to the bank, the achievement was in line with its strategy with the highest growth experienced in the bank's investment in government securities which grew to Ksh183.4 billion representing a 10% rise from Ksh166.2 billion realised in 2021.
The institution also saw a growth in total assets to Ksh597.0 billion from Ksh552.9 billion in the same period last year while net loans and advances grew to Ksh324.5 billion from Ksh298.2 billion.
Customer deposits also grew to Ksh410.8 billion representing a 4% increase from Ksh393.8 billion while external funds from development partners stood at Ksh43.3 billion from Ksh46.9 billion in 2021.
"The Group prudentially provided Ksh1.5 Billion compared to Ksh2.3 billion provided in 2021, indicating improving quality of our asset book as businesses and households continue to recover from the impact of Covid-19 pandemic," read the statement in part.
The bank also reported that its Gross Non-Performing Loan (NPL) Book reduced by 5 per cent from last year, with its NPL ratio improving to 13.3 per cent against 15.2 per cent in a similar period last year.
Co-op Bank has also established a strong digital footprint and has successfully migrated its customers to the Omni-channel, integrating accessibility and user experience.
"Our omnichannel interfaces online banking through personal computers, mobile phones and USSD availing our services to all customers through their preferred channel yet retain the same experience from wherever they are," added the statement.
Through its digital channel strategy, the Bank has successfully moved 94% of all customer transactions to alternative delivery channels; an expanded 24-hour contact centre, mobile banking, 541 ATMs, internet banking and over 27,000 Co-op Kwa Jirani agency banking terminals.
Over 151,500 customers took up the MSME packages that Co-op Bank rolled out in 2018 and 23,363 have since been trained on business management skills.