Troubled pan-African housing lender Shelter Afrique, owned 11.16 per cent by the Kenyan government, announced on Friday net loss in 2016 deepened by 156.68 per cent on rising bad debt. The Nairobi-headquartered lender, which is still smarting from alleged financial malpractices by the ousted management, said loss widened to $12.68 million (Sh1.31 billion ) from $4.94 million (Sh510.70 million) a year earlier.
Shelter Afrique reported impaired loans – credit which may not be recovered in full – increased by more than three quarters to $18.00 million (Sh1.86 billion) from $10.14 million (Sh1.05 billion) it reported 12 months earlier. The loan book expanded by a marginal 3.22 per cent year-on-year to $283.11 million (Sh29.27 billion) from $274.28 million (Sh28.36 billion).
Net interest income rose 12.95 per cent to $13.78 million (Sh1.42 billion) from $12.20 million (Sh1.26 billion), the housing financier said. The lender – owned by 44 African governments, African Development Bank and African Re – said total assets were flat, rising 0.20 per cent to $336.51 million (Sh34.79 billion).
