Standard Chartered Bank shareholders are staring at a windfall after the lender announced a 15 percent rise in dividend for the full year ended December 2023.
The lender declared a full-year dividend of Sh29 per share for the 2023 financial year, an increase from Sh22 per share in a similar period last year.
This will comprise of ordinary dividend of Sh23 per ordinary share for the year on top of the Sh6 interim dividend issued in December, representing a dividend payout ratio of 80 percent.
The announcement comes after the bank reported a net profit of Sh13.84 billion for the period, a year-on-year increase of 14.76 percent.
“The Board will be recommending to the shareholders a final ordinary dividend of Sh23.00 per ordinary share for the year. This is in addition to the interim dividend of Sh6 paid in December 2023 - this represents a 32 percent increase,” said StanChart CEO Kariuki Ngari.
The total dividend payout stands at Sh10.96 billion, constituting 79.4 percent of the net profit, as opposed to the Sh8.31 billion disbursed based on the 2022 net earnings.
The lender experienced a significant increase in net interest income, rising by 31.96 percent year-on-year to Sh29.32 billion.
The non-performing loan (NPL) ratio for the bank stood at 9.7 per cent as of December 2023.
StanChart Chief Financial Officer Chemutai Murgor said that while the figure indicates a slight increase compared to previous periods, it remains manageable, reflecting the bank's proactive approach to risk management and asset quality.
Standard Chartered Bank's loan book expanded to Sh163.16 billion, a notable year-on-year growth of 17.04 percent.
Murgor added that the lender, one of the oldest in Kenya has also cut its investments in local government bonds by eight percent during the period to Sh108.5 billion.
The funds were reinvested in loans and advances to customers, which grew by 17 percent. The higher lending was also helped by a rise in customer deposits.
Net interest income at the bank, which is controlled by Standard Chartered PLC, rose by close to a third, Murgor said, while overall revenue grew by almost a quarter.
