I&M, Co-op Bank top bank rating for first quarter 2020 – Cytonn Research

Kenya’s banking sector showed resilient performance despite the tough operating environment which was largely attributable to persistent revenue diversification. This is according to an analysis of the financial performance of listed banks done by the Cytonn Financial Services Research Team for the first quarter of this year.

The report has also carried out a comprehensive ranking of the listed banks on the basis of franchise value and also on future growth opportunity, with I&M Holdings and Coop bank score at 51 and 49, respectively.

KCB Group Plc and Equity Group follow closely with 56 and 60 respectively, on the franchise value score.

On the Q1’ 2020 ranking, there hasn’t been much shifting from the FY’ 2019 list with the leaders only slightly changing position. Co-op Bank shifts up a position to rank second, with a slight margin. FY’ 2019 leader, KCB Group has ceded two positions to rank third, albeit with an impressive franchise value score – 56.

The report also highlights other banking giants in successive order include DTBK at position 5, ABSA at position 6 with franchise value score of 67 and 62, respectively.

Stanbic Bank/Holdings, SCBK, NCBA Group Plc, HF Group Plc rank in that order to make the top ten financial institutions list.

Co-operative Bank of Kenya Ltd whose rank improved to Position 2 from Position 3 in FY’2019 mainly due to an improvement in the Gross NPL ratio to 10.8% in Q1’2020 from 11.2% in FY’2019, in turn, improving its franchise value score, and,Major Changes from the Q1’2020 Ranking are:

• KCB Group whose rank declined to Position 3 from Position 1 in FY’2019 mainly due to a deterioration in the cost to income ratio to 61.1% in Q1’2020 from 56.2% in FY’2019 thus, in turn, worsening the franchise value score.

The report all the same highlights that banks reported a decline in the quality of their loan books, as a result of compliance with the new accounting rules known as IFRS 9, together with the cautious stance that banks have taken to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Asset quality deteriorated in Q1’2020 with the gross NPL ratio increasing by 0.9% points to 11.3% from 10.4% in Q1’2019. This was high compared to the 5-year average of 8.5%. In accordance with IFRS 9, banks are expected to provide both for the incurred and expected credit losses. Consequently, this saw the NPL coverage increase to 57.4% in Q1’2020 from 54.5% in Q1’2019 as banks adopted a cautious stance on the back of the expected impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the Cytonn Report.

There are more banking report details on Cytonn Q1’2020 Listed Banking Sector Review