By JAMES ANYANZWA

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Equity Group Holdings Plc. has rebounded to their pre-Covid-19 period performance with a 64 percent jump in net profit for the three months to March 31.

This was buoyed by significant growth in non-interest income and reduction in loan loss provisions with regional subsidiaries, apart from South Sudan, making positive contribution to the bottomline.

The group’s profit after tax (PAT) increased to Ksh8.7 billion ($81.3 million) from Ksh5.3 billion ($49.53 million) in the same period last year, translating to increased earnings per share of Ksh2.3 ($0.02) from Ksh1.4 ($0.01).

“This means the bank has rebounded back to pre-Covid days. We have adopted a two-pronged strategy of being offensive and defensive. We strengthened our capital buffers by retaining profits and withholding dividend payouts, took long-term loan facilities that strengthened our liquidity buffers,” Chief Executive James Mwangi told an investor briefing in Nairobi on Wednesday.

“Internally, we focused on risk mitigation and management in a challenging environment, enhanced our NPL coverage through provisions and sought collaboration with development financial institutions on credit and risk sharing guarantees.”

The lender, which is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), has operations in six countries—Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)—with a commercial representative office in Ethiopia.

It operates a total of 336 branches across the region with a bulk of them (190 branches) being in Kenya, followed by DRC (70), Uganda (43), Tanzania (14), Rwanda (14) and South Sudan (5).

According to the group’s unaudited financial statements released Wednesday, total income grew by 29 percent to Ksh25.5 billion ($238.31 million) from Ksh19.7 billion ($184.11 million), with non-funded (non-interest) income rising by 30 percent to Ksh10.7 billion ($100 million) from Ksh8.2 billion ($76.63 million) accounting for 42 percent of the group’s total income.

Net interest income increased by 28 percent to Ksh14.8 billion ($138.31 million) from Ksh11.5 billion ($107.47 million) accounting for 58 percent of the group’s total revenues, while loan loss provision declined to Ksh1.1 billion ($10.28 million) from Ksh3 billion ($28.03 million).

Net loans increased 29 percent to Ksh487.7 billion ($4.55 billion) from Ksh379.2 billion ($3.54 billion) while total assets grew 54 percent to Ksh1.06 trillion ($9.9 billion) from Ksh693.2 billion ($6.47 billion).

Total deposits increased 58 percent to Ksh790.6 billion ($7.38 billion) from Ksh499.3 billion ($4.66 billion).