The Co-operative Bank of Kenya virtually held its 14th Annual General Meeting on Friday, May 27.
This is the third time the meeting has been held virtually following amendments to the law governing the annual general meetings, following the Covid-19 epidemic.
The overwhelmingly successful meeting was attended by over 16,000 shareholders from across the globe. Shareholders welcomed the dividend payment scheduled to hit their accounts on June 17, 2022.
The shareholders were appreciative of the Board of Directors’ divided policy that balances between the need for additional capital and shareholders' immediate interest in earnings.
They particularly commended the Group Board for the Ksh100 billion retained earnings the bank has accumulated for future growth through this policy.
Speaking at the meeting the Group Managing Director, Dr Gideon Muriuki pointed out to the shareholders that the bank was confident of a good performance in the 2022 full year, estimating that the bank will surpass the over Ksh22 billion profit registered in 2021.
"... already in the first quarter of 2022, the bank has registered a profit before tax of Ksh7.8 billion which is an indication of better days ahead," Dr Muriuki stated.
The meeting was chaired by the Bank Chairman, John Murugu, and was also attended by the Vice-Chairman, Macloud Malonza, among other board members.
The Co-operative Bank of Kenya had also announced that it 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.