KCB Bank Kenya and Trust Merchant Bank SA (TMB) were named 2023 Best Banks of the Year in their respective countries during a gala dinner yesterday by the Banker Magazine in the United Kingdom.
For KCB Bank Kenya, the coveted award was in recognition of its expansion efforts when it successfully finalized the acquisition of Trust Merchant Bank SA (TMB) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2022 as well as the bank’s expanding green lending business model that has seen it target to increase its share of the overall loan book to 25% by 2025.
For TMB, its entry into the syndicated loans market elevated its value proposition for the corporate banking sector and opened avenues for greater diversification within its loan book. As a result, the bank recorded a 22% rise in Tier 1 capital and an 18% growth in assets, a 17% rise in customer deposits in dollar terms, compared with a sector-wide growth of just 4%. The bank’s loans also grew by 20%, driven mainly by lending to small and medium-sized enterprises, with the lender taking care to manage growth in its loan exposure to the country’s extractive sector in the face of the sector’s perceived vulnerability to systemic risk.
Speaking on the achievement, KCB Group CEO, Paul Russo noted that the twin wins are a testament to the bank’s ability to put in place sound business models and strategies to deliver long-term returns while at the same time setting high standards for regional banking excellence in the face of a challenging business operating environment.
“We are delighted to receive these recognitions as they give us the impetus to further entrench our ability to consistently deliver on our long-term product innovation and service promise. They also entrench our ongoing focus on supporting inclusive finance ideals hinged on taking advantage of the investments within the digital banking ecosystem to deliver value to all our stakeholders,” Russo noted.
The recognition comes on the back of major recent accolades won by the bank with the latest one being ranked as one of Africa’s largest banks for the second year running by The Banker’s Top 100 African Banks 2023 Report. The bank also declared the world’s 6th strongest banking brand with a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score of 90.4 out of 100 and a corresponding AAA+ rating and climbed 3 places to 363rd making it among the world’s top 500 most valuable banking brands by Brand Finance.
At the same time, the bank has emerged as a true lender of purpose given as its assets grew to KShs. 2.1 trillion while it posted KShs. 30.7 billion in net profit for the nine months ending 30th September 2023. The performance was attributed to prudent financial control measures as well as the impressive contribution from the regional subsidiaries.
