Family Bank will form a special purpose company to manage its shares as it looks to regional markets for growth.
This is following a shareholders’ approval for the establishment of a non-operating holding company, that will hold shares in Family Bank Kenya and other non-banking subsidiaries ahead of expansion plans.
The lender is planning to expand its footprint beyond the Kenyan borders into the East, West, and Central African regions.
“Regional expansion remains a focus for the bank in supporting our business growth and expansion strategy. We are exploring the possibility of expanding our footprint to countries within the East, West and Central African region,” CEO Nancy Njau said.
The approval comes following its Annual General Meeting last month, where shareholders also approved a Sh723 million dividend payout for the financial year ended December 2023.
“This non-operating holding company will allow for capital efficiency, risk management and establishment of separate governance structures for both banking and our non-banking subsidiaries,” read a statement from the lender.
The company will shield the performance of the lender's local operations from those of the planned new markets.
The lender has been raising funds to grow its operations in the local market having hit 95 branches in 2024.
In the past 10 years, the bank issued two corporate bonds in 2015 and 2021, raising Sh2 billion and Sh4 billion, respectively.
In the financial year ended December 2023, the bank posted a Sh2.5 billion profit after tax, representing a 13.3 per cent growth compared to Sh2.2 billion posted in 2022.
The bank's asset base grew from Sh31 billion in 2012, to Sh142 billion in 2023, while profitability grew from Sh561 million in 2012 to Sh2.5 billion in 2023.
Family Banks's balance sheet hit the USD 1 billion mark. The bank also incorporated Family Bank Bancassurance Intermediary Limited.