Co-op Bank Announces a Ksh29.4B Profit before Taxes for Year 2022

Co-op Bank Group is pleased to report a Profit before Tax of Kshs.29.4 Billion for Full Year 2022, a commendable 30% growth compared to Kshs.22.6 Billion recorded in Full Year 2021. This represents a strong Profit after Tax of Kshs.22.0 Billion compared to Kshs.16.5 Billion reported in 2021.

The strong performance by the Bank is in line with the Group’s strategic focus on sustainable growth, resilience, and agility.

Dividends

The strong performance has led to a sustained increase in shareholder value as reflected in the competitive Return on Equity of 21.2%. The Board of Directors has recommended a dividend of Kshs1.50 per share, subject to approval by the regulators and shareholders. The proposed dividend represents a 50 per cent enhancement on the Kshs1.00 per share paid out last year.

A virtual Annual General Meeting will be held on Friday, 19th May 2023.

Key Performance highlights:

 Financial Position:

The Group has registered sustained growth as follows:

• Total Assets grew to Kshs.607.2 Billion, a 4.7% growth from Kshs579.8 Billion in the same period last year.
• Net loans and advances grew to Kshs.339.4 Billion, a 9.4% growth from Kshs.310.2 Billion in 2021. Customer deposits grew to Kshs423.8 Billion, a 3.9% increase from Kshs.407.7 Billion.
• External funds from development partners stands at Kshs48.1 Billion from Kshs.42.9 Billion in 2021.Shareholders’ funds have grown to Kshs.107.7 Billion, a 7.4% increase from Kshs.100.2 Billion in 2021.

Comprehensive Income

Total operating income grew by 17.9% from Kshs60.4B to Kshs71.3B. Total non-interest income grew by 32.7% from Kshs19.4B to Kshs25.7B.

Net interest income grew by 10.9% from Kshs41.0B to Kshs45.5B. Total operating expenses increased by 10.9% from Kshs38.1B to Kshs.42.2B.

Cost Management

The Group reports excellent efficiency gains from the various initiatives to record a Cost-to-Income Ratio of 47.1% in FY2022 from 59% in FY2014 when we began our Growth & Efficiency journey.

Credit Management

This remains a key focus area, with the Group prudentially making provisions of Kshs.8.7B which has enhanced the Bank’s Loan Loss Reserve/Coverage levels to 74% from 69% in 2021.

A Strong Digital Footprint

Through our digital channel strategy, the Bank has successfully moved 92% of all customer transactions to alternative delivery channels, a 24-hour contact center, 542 ATMs, mobile & internet banking and over 17,000 network of Co-op Kwa Jirani agents.

We have successfully migrated our customers to the Omni-channel, integrating accessibility and user experience. Our Omni-channel 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.

Key focus on digital banking, with the all-telco MCo-op Cash Mobile Wallet continuing to play a pivotal role in the growth of non-funded income with 5 Million customers registered and loans worth Kshs84.2 Billion disbursed year-to-date, averaging over Kshs.7B per month.

Over 170,000 customers have taken up the MSME packages that we rolled out in 2018, and 33,673 have been trained on business management skills.

Year to date, we have disbursed Kshs.25.4 Billion to MSMEs through our Mobile E-Credit solution. MSMEs are a critical part of economic recovery post-Covid and contribute up to 16.9% of our total Loan Book.

Our unique model of retail banking services through Sacco FOSAS enabled us provide wholesale financial services to over 484 FOSA outlets.

Subsidiaries

• Co-op Consultancy & Bancassurance Intermediary Ltd posted a Profit Before Tax of Kshs1.01 Billion in FY2022, riding on strong penetration of Bancassurance business.
• Co-operative Bank of South Sudan that is a unique joint venture (JV) partnership with Government of South Sudan (Co-op Bank 51% and GOSS 49%) returned a profit of Kshs132.7 Million in FY2022 compared to a loss of Kshs421.7 million in FY2021, a 131% growth.
• Co-op Trust Investment Services contributed Kshs. 208.1 Million in Profit Before Tax in FY2022, with Funds Under Management of Kshs.196.6 Billion compared to Kshs.189.2 Billion in December 2021.
• Kingdom Bank Limited (A Niche MSME Bank) has contributed a Profit before Tax of Kshs. 803.8 Million in FY2022.

Environmental Social and Governance (ESG)

In 2022, the Bank embarked on an enhanced ESG roadmap to integrate ESG considerations into its operations with several key milestones achieved. These include:

• Enhanced ESG governance to ensure that the Bank has effective policies, procedures, and practices in place to identify, manage, monitor, and report on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) matters that may impact the Bank’s operations and stakeholders.
• Appointment of an ESG Champions Committee and establishment of a dedicated ESG Unit.
• Appointment of ESG champions across the entire Group, representing all Divisions, Subsidiaries and Control Functions.
• Approved ESG policy framework.

The Co-op Bank Foundation, the Group’s social investment vehicle, continues to provide Scholarships to gifted but needy students from all regions of Kenya. The sponsorship includes fully paid secondary education, full fees for University education, Internships and career openings for beneficiaries.

The foundation is fully funded by the bank and has supported 9553 students since the inception of the program.

Accolades

The Bank was recognized as ‘Best Overall in Satisfactory Customer Experience’ following a customer survey conducted by the Kenya Bankers’ Association (KBA).

This Award was based on a survey where 33,000 customers of all 38 member banks of KBA were asked to rank overall experience with their main bank. In addition, the Bank was similarly recognized with the ‘Excellence in Customer Experience in Digital Banking’ award at the Digibanking Event held in Nairobi.

The two awards re-affirm the bank as the financial institution offering the most fulfilling customer experience in the industry.