Kenyan lender KCB Group's post-tax profit jumps 19.5% in 2022

An ATM is seen in the banking hall at the KCB Kencom branch in Nairobi
An ATM is seen in the banking hall at the KCB Kencom branch in Nairobi, Kenya July 10, 2018. Picture taken July 10, 2018. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya/File Photo

NAIROBI, March 15 (Reuters) - Kenyan lender KCB Group (KCB.NR) on Wednesday posted a 19.5% rise in 2022 after-tax profit to 40.8 billion shillings ($314.57 million), driven by a similar revenue increase.

The bank, which also operates in neighboring Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan, said income from transactions surged 39.8%, driven by trade finance and other commissions.

Costs rose by almost a quarter, KCB said, mainly due to increased undertakings within the business and the integration of acquisitions like Trust Merchant Bank of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which was completed in December.

The lender, one of the two largest in Kenya, said it was "bullish" about prospects for this year, citing its regional subsidiaries whose contribution to group profit grew faster in 2022 than a year earlier.

It cut its annual dividend by a third to 2.00 shillings per share, on earnings of 12.71 shillings per share.

($1 = 129.7000 Kenyan shillings)

Reporting by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Richard Chang

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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