Kenya Commercial Bank Limited (KCBL) shareholders have approved the formation of KCB Group Limited, a non-operating holding company that will own the Bank and all its other interests including regional subsidiaries.
Subject to regulatory approvals, the reorganization exercise will see KCBL, the current company; transfer its banking business to a new subsidiary, KCB Bank Kenya Limited.
Following the transfer of assets and liabilities, KCBL will remain as a non-operating holding company approved to operate as such by the Central Bank of Kenya, and subsequently renamed KCB Group Limited.
The new Group holding company will be mandated to oversee KCB Bank Kenya Limited, the regional Banking units in Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, and South Sudan and two more existing subsidiaries—the investment banking arm, KCB Capital Limited and the bancassurance unit, KCB Insurance Agency Limited.
“The directors of KCB consider that the reorganization and implementation of a non-operating holding company is in the best long-term interests of shareholders and of the KCB Group as a whole. We believe that this will result in operational efficiencies and better financial performance of the KCB Group” said KCB Group Chairman, Ngeny Biwott.
KCB announced a 12 per cent rise in after-tax profit to Sh. 4.36 billion for the first three months of 2015 ending March 31st, 2015.
This was an increase compared to Sh3.9 billion it posted in the same period last year. The increase has been driven by increased lending and new income streams from new business lines that the bank has ventured into in the recent past.
KCB projects that the new structure will increase the lender’s access to debt and equity capital while enabling the equity markets to place appropriate value on the Group’s business separate from the current banking operations to be undertaken by KCB Bank Kenya Limited.
The reorganization—which will effectively separate the banking businesses from other incidental business entities— will however not result to any change in the ownership structure of KCB Group.