Centum bank struggles to grow loan book by only a billion
Centum-owned Sidian Bank saw profits decline marginally last year after the lender only managed to expand its loan book by a billion shillings.
Sidan Bank posted Kes209 million in half year net profits, a 16 percent dip from Kea251 million in a similar period last year attributed to its slow growing loan book. The lender’s loan book only saw an increase from Kes23.1 billion in the half year of 2022 to Kes24.2 billion in 2023.
Sidian Group set aside Kes194.1 million a slight increase from Kes167 million to cover for bad debts, which went up by 17.8 percent to Kes3.5 billion. The Bank which was recently sold its minority stake to Pioneer Insurance is struggling to retain depositors as the cost of funds rises in line with galloping Central Bank rates.
Their customer deposits dropped to Kes25.9 billion by the end of June compared to Kes26.7 billion around the same time last year.
