Equity Bank has been ranked Number 7 in The Banker’s Top 100 African Banks Ranking for the year 2020.
Equity, with a balance sheet size worth Kshs. 673.7 billion at the end of 2019, scored 5.82 in the overall category of the best performing banks.
According to experts in the Banking Sector, this year’s ranking shows stabilisation in the finances of the majority of African major lenders. The ranking by The Banker’s Top 100 African Banks, tracks the health and wealth of the African banking sector using an array of metrics including the overall growth performance, financial soundness, profits on capital, leverage and return on risk.
On closer scrutiny, Equity improved her performance with a 14% profit after tax growth to Kshs 22.6 billion from Kshs 19.8 billion in 2018. The performance, that is without doubt impressive, was registered during an interest capping period was driven by a 23% growth in loan book to Kshs 366.4 billion from Kshs 297.2 billion in 2018.
“The enhanced efficiency and cost optimization saw cost-income ratio improving to 51% from 52.4% in 2018. The Group has maintained its yield on interest-earning assets at 11.2% despite the challenge of interest capping and declining yield curve. Innovation has also been a great enabler in driving growth and is already registering efficiency gains from digitization.” Dr. James Mwangi, Managing Director and CEO of Equity told The Ugandan Wire in a telephone interview.
“The ranking is an indication that Equity remains robust, despite the challenging operating environment. We have developed and adopted a sustainable business model to cushion the business as well as boost value creation for shareholders,” Dr. Mwangi added.
The Banker Top 1000 World Banks 2020 ranked Equity Bank 754 in balance sheet size overall in its global ranking, 62nd in soundness (Capital Assets to Assets ratio), 55th in terms of Profits on Capital and 20th on Return on Assets.
