http://www.reuters.com/a...e/idUSLDE64U05X20100531
Barclays Bank of Kenya (BBK.NR) posted a 8.9 percent fall in pretax profit for the first quarter of the year on Monday due to a one-off staff related cost, but said it expected interest income to rise this year.
Ranked the second largest bank in Kenya by assets and majority owned by Barlays Bank Plc (BARC.L), the bank cut its prime lending rate last month and said more competitive rates should boost its lending business.
"We therefore fully expect to generate good growth in interest income through the year -- by increasing our revenue per customer as well as attracting new customers," Adan Mohamed, the bank's regional managing director, said.
Pretax profit was 2.00 billion shillings ($25.1 million) during the first three months of 2010, down from 2.20 billion in the same period last year.
Although Barclays was first among the big banks in Kenya to post a decline in profit for the period, its net interest income jumped 13 percent on better margins.
Its operating expenses increased by slightly more than half a billion shillings to 4.07 billion on the back of a one-off expense related to staff. It said underlying expenses were in line with inflation and business expectations.
Barclays' shareholders approved last week the sale of the bank's custody business to Standard Chartered Bank of Kenya (SCBK.NR) for about 3.5 billion shillings ($43.9 million), it said in a separate statement.
Investors have been betting that Kenyan banks will post good growth this year on the back of an improving economic outlook, helping to push their shares higher in line with the rest of the market.