The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has increased its holdings of listed tier-one lender KCB Group by 18.8 million shares worth Ksh703 million in the third quarter of this year, the latest in a series of additional purchases.
According to information provided by KCB in regulatory ownership filings, NSSF increased its position in the bank from 8.48 percent in June to 291.35 million shares at the end of September, equivalent to 9.07 percent overall.
NSSF held a 6.12 percent ownership in KCB in March 2019 and has been raising it from the purchase of more shares besides the transfer of its previous stake in the National Bank of Kenya (NBK) into shares of the country’s second-largest lender.
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The bank, alongside Safaricom, provides the pension fund with its biggest source of dividend income, owing to the large volume of shares held in the two companies.
According to the fund’s most recent audited financial statements, which cover the year ending in June 2021, it received dividends from KCB and Safaricom totaling Ksh265.7 million and Ksh337.7 million, respectively.
NSSF earned Ksh773.6 million in KCB dividends and Ksh962 million from Safaricom a year earlier, with the 2021 drop caused by several companies opting to limit or forego dividend payouts to conserve capital amid the Covid-19 outbreak.
Read: KCB Group Posts Ksh19.6B In Half-Year Profit
KCB Group PLC reported net earnings of Ksh19.6 billion for the six months ending June 30, 2022, a 28.4% rise from last year. The growth was driven by improvement in both the funded and non-funded income streams. Additionally, the international subsidiaries increased their overall contribution to the Group’s performance.
Total operating income increased by 16.8% mainly driven by a 29.9% growth in non-funded Income. Group businesses increased their profit contribution to 16.8% driven by new business growth and the impact of BPR Bank.
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