NCBA has reported a 56.8 per cent growth in after-tax profit for the year ended December 31, 2019.
In a statement, the lender, which came into being following a merger between NIC and CBA banks recorded a net profit of Sh7.8 billion up from Sh5 billion in 2018 on the back of improved earnings from both loans and government securities.
The results were arrived at on the prospective basis of accounting where results for both the bank and group include those of CBA Bank for nine months plus results of the merged entity NCBA Group for Q4 2019. The comparator is CBA Bank's 2018 end year results.
The bank's profits were also boosted by another income of Sh5.6 billion which includes a bargain purchase gain resulting from the merger, of Sh4 billion.
Following the merger, the group saw its asset base close the year under review at Sh495 billion while the customer base stood at 50.1million.
Deposits stood at Sh378 billion while the net loan book closed at Sh249 billion.
Commenting on the results, NCBA Group managing director John Gachora said; the successful completion of the merger was due to the hard work of the staff with superb guidance from the board.
"I am truly grateful for their efforts. Our integration and execution efforts continue in earnest, as we ‘GoFor It'," Gachora said.
He added that while the 2019 results included a number of costs necessary to complete the merger, the underlying performance remained strong.
The operating income in the fourth quarter totalled Sh11.6 billion.
