Equity Bank Group posted a five per cent profit after tax to Sh19.8 billion last year up from 18.9 billion in 2017.
Group CEO James Mwangi said the good performance was backed by an increased focus on non-funded income driven by adoption of digital banking systems across the board.
"This is the resilience we were pursuing to wade the headwinds of the slow growth rate of the private sector," Mwangi said during the release of the full-year results on Tuesday afternoon.
Mwangi said non-interest income streams contributed to 38 per cent of the firm’s total revenue. He added that 93 per cent of the lender's loans were transacted through mobile phones compared to 79 per cent the previous year.
During the review period, the lender’s loan book grew six per cent to Sh294.8 billion from Sh278.1 billion while customer deposits grew 13 per cent to Sh421.6 billion from Sh373.1 billion reported the previous year.
Mwangi also attributed the bank’s performance to increased customer confidence which saw the lender grow its customer base to 13.5 million users from 12.1 million users in 2017.
The bank’s total assets grew nine per cent to Sh573.4 billion last year from Sh524.5 billion the previous year supported by 26 per cent government securities. This maintained the bank’s position as the second largest lender in the country by asset base after KCB Group.
