Sidian Bank, a mid-tier bank focusing on SMEs has recorded a profit before tax of Ksh72 million for the year ended December 31, 2020.
In a statement to newsrooms, the bank announced that it has recorded a strong performance across key indicators notwithstanding the setback arising from the Covid-19 pandemic that affected most businesses last year.
The Ksh72 million profit is a 28 percent drop from the previous year’s profitability of Ksh99 million.
The loan book grew by 31 percent while customer deposits grew by 32 percent. As a result, the bank’s balance sheet increased by 27 percent from Ksh26.5 billion to Ksh33.5 billion.
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The increased lending in the period resulted in higher loans interest income which grew by 13 percent as well as increased lending fees which boosted overall performance. Loan impairment provisions were lower at Ksh187 million compared to Ksh403 million as at December 31, 2019.
“This is due to the improved quality of the Bank’s loan book with gross NPLs reducing by 28 percent from Ksh3.3 billion in 2019 to Ksh2.3 billion in 2020 as a result of focused credit management and collections,” said the lender in a statement.
Through the WASH Fund, the Bank supported affordable credit to SMEs and privately-owned business enterprises to finance Covid-19 WASH loans to entrepreneurs in the Water, Health & Sanitation sectors with an approximate of USD 1 million disbursed to SMEs across 17 counties in the country. In the year, the Bank also drew down the 2nd tranche USD 10 million FMO facility, which it used to on-lend to SMEs.
Read: Turnaround For Sidian Bank As It Records Profits In Q3 of 2020
“The Bank has substantially upgraded its digital platforms to allow end to end access by customers at their convenience. As a result, over 80% of the Bank’s transactions were through alternative delivery channels. At the centre of innovation, the Bank in 2020 launched Sidian Credible, a digital solution that allows customers and non-customers to access bid bonds in less than five minutes, cutting off the need for physical bank visits and queues at bank branches,” added the statement.
In January 2021, Sidian Bank opened its 42nd Gikomba Branch in order to support the growing economy of small-scale traders within the Gikomba area.
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