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Microbanks sink deeper into the red as income streams dry.
Kenya’s 13 deposit-taking microfinance banks (MFBs) sunk deeper into losses last year as financial income dropped and depositors flocked to larger commercial lenders in anticipation of benefits from the rate cap law.
According to fresh industry statistics from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), the losses reflect micro-lenders’ drying income streams and a struggle to secure fresh funds for investments.
The combined loss before taxation the MFBs industry incurred widened 64.99 per cent to Sh622 million in the 12 months to last December compared with Sh377 million a year earlier.
Nine of the 13 microfinance banks posted losses, the data from the CBK shows.
The decline in profitability in the sector was largely attributed to a reduction of financial income by seven per cent or Sh1 billion,” the regulator said in its latest annual supervision report.
Total income the MFBs generated declined to Sh13.69 billion from Sh14.65 billion in December 2016.
This was largely on the back of a Sh477 fall in interest earnings to Sh11.25 billion, while income from fees and commissions also dropped by Sh324 million to Sh1.06 billion.
The micro-lenders, which are shielded from the September 2016 ceilings on interest, recorded a Sh4.2 billion, or 8.9 per cent, dip in net loans year-on-year to Sh42.85 billion as customers bulked at higher interest they were asking.
“The shrinkage of the loan book was partly attributed to the deliberate move by most institutions to slow down lending in light of the uncertainties associated with the electioneering period and by the capping of the interest rates, which resulted to a shift in customers to cheaper facilities from the commercial banks,” the CBK says.
Total non-performing loans (NPLs) in the period shot up by Sh1.59 billion to Sh8.08 billion.
Higher interest paid by commercial banks on term deposits because of the rate cap law, which requires a minimum interest payout of 70 of the Central Bank Rate (presently at nine per cent), also hit the MFBs hard, with customer deposits dropping Sh1.28 billion, or 3.2 per cent, to Sh38.92 billion.
The micro-lenders, however, cut operating expenses by a cumulative Sh799 million, or 5.97 per cent, to Sh12.59 billion largely on automation.
The industry’s payroll also shrunk Sh44 million to Sh4.68 million after 95 staff were laid off, leaving 4,328 employees.
“As a result of the decline in performance, the sector reported a lower return on assets and equity ratio at negative 0.9 per cent and negative 5.5 per cent, compared to the previous year in 2016 at negative 0.5 per cent and negative 3.2 per cent respectively,” said the Central Bank.
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