NAIROBI – Kenya’s former first family of Jomo Kenyatta headed by Uhuru Kenyatta is bagging a sum of Ksh924.26 million in dividends earned from their combined 13.2 percent stake in NCBA Group. This translates to an increase of Ksh271.76 million from their previous year’s earnings.
The Kenyattas’ stake in NCBA stands at Sh7.6 billion based on the bank’s share price of Sh35 a piece.
The Kenyattas will be followed by the former Central Bank of Kenya Governor Philip Ndegwa who will earn Sh876 million on the 12.52 percent ownership in the same bank. Mr Ndegwas’ ownership is worth Sh7.22 billion.
Equity Group chief executive James Mwangi is another country’s biggest dividend earner of Sh685.3 million in Equity. Kenya’s most profitable bank where Mwangi owns a 3.4% direct stake declared a dividend of Sh4 per share.
Accordingly, Mr Mwangi’s 188.6 million shares in Equity scoops a market value of about Sh8.3 billion which makes him one of the single-largest finance investors in the country.
Another ‘Big Boy’ is Co-operative Bank CEO Gideon Muriuki who looks forward to bagging Sh154 million from his 1.75 percent stake in the bank he has led for about 20 years.
The bank which raised dividends to Sh1.50 per share reported a 33 percent jump in net profit to Sh22 billion last year.
This comes after most banks in the country reported full-year results indicating double-digit profit growth.
According to Business Daily, a local media platform, the nine tier-one banks, including DTB, Stanbic Bank of Kenya, Absa Bank of Kenya, Standard Chartered Bank of Kenya and I&M, saw their net profits rise by 25.2 percent or Sh35.8 billion to Sh176.86 billion.
Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) data show the banking sector’s pre-tax profits hit Sh244.1 billion last year, translating to a 25.3 percent rise from Sh194.8 billion posted the previous year.
The rise in profits has seen the banks propose to distribute to shareholders between 16 percent and 69 percent of their net earnings, in the latest indicator that lenders have turned the corner in the wake of Covid-19 disruptions that saw the lenders cut or freeze payouts.
Equity, Kenya’s most profitable bank, grew its profit 15 percent to Sh46.1 billion, allowing the lender to raise its dividend from Sh3 to Sh4 per share, amounting to Sh15.1 billion.
Equity did not pay dividends for 2019 and 2020, citing the need to build a capital buffer after the Covid-19 economic hardships hit the banking sector via loan defaults.
NCBA’S net profit grew 35 percent to Sh13.78 billion and offered shareholders 50.8 percent of the earnings as dividends or Sh7 billion.
