NCBA injects Sh3.5bn in subsidiaries, fully acquires Tanzanian unit

NCBA house in Upper Hill in Nairobi. FILE PHOTO | EVANS HABIL | NMG

NCBA Group invested an additional Sh3.47 billion in its regional subsidiaries in the year ended December as it sought to increase its share of profits from outside Kenya.

In its latest disclosures, the lender said the value of its subsidiary investments hit Sh74.08 billion from Sh70.61 billion a year earlier, with the Tanzania unit accounting for more than half of the capital injection.

NCBA Group says it invested Sh2 billion in NCBA Bank Tanzania in a transaction that saw it buy out the 6.56 percent stake that was in the hands of minority shareholders.

Read: NCBA invests Sh2 billion in its Tanzania subsidiary

“The group acquired the minority interest share, increasing group ownership to 100 percent,” says NCBA in the annual report.

NCBA has been increasing its stake in the Tanzanian unit from 75.91 percent in 2019 to 93.44 percent in 2021 to current full ownership.

In its Ugandan and Rwandan subsidiaries, the lender pumped in Sh814 million and Sh458 million, respectively, and another Sh200 million investment in Kenyan-based Loop DFS, formerly Bantech Limited.

The latest investments bring to Sh6.98 billion, the amount of money that NCBA Group has invested in the subsidiaries since 2019.

The lender closed the year valuing its investment in Tanzania at Sh7.08 billion and Uganda and Rwanda units at Sh4.94 billion and Sh3.33 billion, respectively.

In 2021, it had invested Sh2.33 billion, up from Sh860.3 million in 2020 and Sh312.97 million a year earlier.

The additional capital injection raised the investment value in the three subsidiaries to Sh12.05 billion, with Tanzania leading with Sh5.08 billion.

Net earnings

During the review period, net losses from subsidiaries reduced from Sh1.56 billion to Sh545 million, with only the Tanzanian unit remaining in the red. The subsidiary widened its net loss from Sh1.16 billion to Sh1.78 billion.

The Ugandan unit bounced from a Sh483.24 million loss to a net profit of Sh767.6 million, while Rwanda business net profit improved from Sh83.4 million to Sh467.1 million.

The Kenyan unit saw its net profit jump from Sh11.8 billion to Sh14.32 billion.

NCBA Group board increased its dividends payout for the second straight year after net profit grew by 35 percent to Sh13.78 billion.

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