Standard Chartered Kenya posted a 15% increase in its pre-tax profit for 2023 to 19.6 billion shillings ($141.31 million), its chief financial officer said on Tuesday, buoyed by higher revenue from loans.

The lender, which is one of the oldest in the East African nation, cut its investments in local government bonds by 8% during the period to 108.5 billion shillings, CFO Chemutai Murgor told an investor briefing.

The funds were then reinvested in loans and advances to customers, she said, which grew by 17%. The higher lending was also helped by a rise in customer deposits.

Net interest income at the bank, which is controlled by Standard Chartered PLC, rose by close to a third, Murgor said, while overall revenue grew by almost a quarter.

 

($1 = 138.7000 Kenyan shillings) (Reporting by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Kim Coghill)