DTB half-year profit drops by 39 per cent to Ksh.2.4 billion

The Diamond Trust Bank (DTB) has reported a 39 per cent decline in its half-year profit to Ksh.2.4 billion from Ksh.3.9 billion last year.

The significant shrinkage in earnings is largely attributable to higher loss provisions in line with an industry wide conservativeness in the wake of uncertainty surrounding COVID-19.

The lender’s loan loss provisions rose by 356 per cent to Ksh.1.9 billion pushing overall operating costs to Ksh.8 billion from Ksh.6.2 billion last year.

DTB’s income streams marked a mixed bag of fortunes with interest income declining by 3.1 per cent to Ksh.15.8 billion while non-interest funded income (NFI) rose to Ksh.3.2 billion from a flat Ksh.3 billion.

The lesser earnings in the bank’s comprehensive income was triggered by lower income from lending while higher fees on loans and FX trading income pushed up the NFI stream.

The mixed bag of fortunes was similarly observable in the lender’s balance sheet as customer deposits declined to Ksh.280.4 billion from Ksh.283.1 billion while the loan book expanded by 5.6 per cent to Ksh.201.5 billion.

DTB’s gross non-performing loans (NPLs) meanwhile surged by 15.9 percent to Ksh.17.5 billion.

The bank did not declare an interim dividend for the half year period as its earnings per share (EPS) plummeted to Ksh.8.59 from Ksh.13.89 last year.