BK Group has recorded a 15.1 percent increase of net profit worth Rwf59.7 billion in 2022 from Rwf51.9 billion in 2021, mainly drive by the 25 percent increase in non-funded income. This has prompted the Board of Directors to recommend dividend payment of Rwf32.5 for each ordinary share, representing 50 percent pay-out ratio of the Group’s net income. ALSO READ: FEATURED: BK to invest Rwf150 billion in agri-business financing The Group CEO, Beata Habyarimana, said that thanks to the post-Covid-19 recovery measures, the group has focused on improving the assets quality and profitability which has yielded strong financial performance in 2022. The lender’s total interest income rose to Rwf137.8 billion while the net loan book grew by 14.6 percent to Rwf1.13 trillion. Asset quality has significantly improved with NPLs ratio of 2.6 percent decreasing from 5.3 percent in 2021. “Looking at the financial position of the bank, total assets increased by 16.6 percent to Rwf1.85 trillion posted by growth of 10.6 percent in customer deposits to Rwf1.18 trillion and Rwf281 billion deposits from other banks,” said Anita D.Umuhire, BK’s Chief of Finance. Return on Average Assets and Return on Assets Equity reached 3.5 percent and 19.8 percent respectively. Diane Karusisi, CEO of Bank of Kigali, said that they have seen a rise in cost of money due to the monetary policy increase of the Central Bank rate from 4 percent to 7 percent. “As our business is financed by lines of credit development financial institutions, the cost of funds has been increasing, but so far we have not yet increased our lending rates. However, we believe that they (depositors) will see the repercussions of this increased cost of funds this year.” According to the group’s financial statement, revenues from all four subsidiaries (Bank, BK General Insurance, BK TecHouse and BK Capital) grew with banking and insurance having largest growth. BK TecHouse registered a net sales growth of 2 percent to Rwf1.188 billion in 2022 compared to Rwf1.170 billion in 2021. This was, among other things, driven by 13 percent growth of user base across its five digital platforms. These include; Smart Nkunganire System, Smart Kungahara System, Urubuto Education System, UrubutoPay, and Kiliziya Yacu. BK Capital which offers services such as investment and wealth management, corporate finance and advisory services brokering of capital markets instruments saw an increase in revenues by 198 percent to Rwf306.2 million in 2022. This was largely driven by the Aguka Unit Trust Fund which increased by Rwf7.24 billion due to its strong product proposition and marketing. However, BK Insurance saw 16 percent in gross premiums from Rwf12.1 Billion in 2021 to Rwf11.1 billion in 2022, due to the exit of one of insurance companies that banked with the subsidiary. It registered a net profit of Rwf2.8 billion in 2022 compared to Rwf2.7 billion registered 2021. Claims ratio stood at 39 percent. In January 2023, BK Group launched a new subsidiary ‘BK Foundation’ an umbrella of all the CSR activities the group conducted over the years through each and every subsidiary. It also has a focus on driving ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) ambitions across the group and for better engagement in various sustainability opportunities. On the BK Arena partnership deal closed in 2022, Karusisi mentioned that it has improved their brand value in addition to reaching the targeted youthful demographic where they noted an increased appetite of the youth to consume BK services. Habyarimana noted that going forward, the group will continue to make significant investments in technology to drive digital transformation program and automating most of their processes.
