CONTENTS - Investing In Africa

CEO’s COMMENTARY continued
KCB JUBA
Customers being advised on
banking services.
in 2007 reflecting ongoing improvement in the quality of
our loan book and enhanced focus on marketing for new
borrowers. Provisions for bad and doubtful debts increased
slightly by 5% in line with new Central Bank of Kenya’s
provisioning guidelines to stand at KShs1.2 billion up from
KShs1.1 billion in 2006.
The bank remained strong on prudential ratios with Core
Capital to Total Deposit Liabilities at 11.7% (CBK minimum
- 8.0%), Core Capital to Weighted Assets at 13.6% (CBK
minimum - 8.0%) and liquidity at 33% (CBK minimum –
20%).
Going forward we want to focus on consolidating our
business here in Kenya and accelerate expansion across
the region. To this end we have plans to open 40 more
branches in our regional network to enhance our footprint
and gain competitive edge.
Over the past year we have opened 11 branches in Kenya
(Serem, Emali, Gateway Nairobi, Mutomo, Kengeleni, Buru
Buru, Sondu, Isiolo, Kisumu West, Watamu and Garsen)
and two more across the region (Milimani, Tanzania and
Kampala Road, Uganda).
In line with our vision, we have made progress in our regional
growth agenda. In November 2007 we established a new
Subsidiary, KCB Uganda with a branch in Kampala. Work
is going on to open more outlets with a target of six by
the end of 2008. This young business has been received
well in the market and has motivated us to look into the
prospects of venturing into Rwanda in the coming year.
We launched two new products in 2007 as we endeavored
to position the business for competitiveness. KCB Biashara
Banking targets small to medium businesses with deposit
and loan products whereas KCB Advantage Banking is
suited for the middle to high end individual clientele. We
also initiated a number of business partnerships as part of
our loan packages among them that of KEMRI and S&L to
finance housing projects for KEMRI employees. We also
augmented our growing Quickserve ATM network by a
partnership with PesaPoint giving our customers access to
over 250 service outlets across the country.
We began the journey towards implementation of a new
state-of-the art core banking System with Temenos
A.G. of Switzerland with a contract to supply and install
T24. Recent political instability threw our plans slightly
off balance but the implementation is back on track and
we expect to switch over to the new system by the third
quarter of 2008.
Our brand continues to be strong in the market with a
recent survey by Steadman Group placing KCB fourth
most popular brand in the market with a score of 75
(Safaricom – 85, Kenya Airways – 78, Coca Cola – 77). We
will continue to enhance our brand visibility through our
flagship sponsorships like the KCB Kenyan National Rally
Championships, the KCB Safari Rally, the KCB Pro-Am Golf
20 KCB ANNUAL REPORT & FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2007