Equity has been named among global giants in the banking industry. The bank has been ranked position 39 globally on return on assets, position 71 on return on capital, and position 149 on soundness (capital assets to assets ratio) in the Top 1,000 World Banks 2021 by The Banker magazine.
Overall, Equity was ranked 22nd in Africa and 761st globally based on its Tier 1 capital base of Ksh. 122 billion (USD 1.096 billion).
The evaluation is based on analysis of banks in eight categories namely; growth, profitability, operational efficiency, asset quality, and return on risk, liquidity, soundness, and leverage.
Equity’s performance in the rankings comes in the continued fight against COVID-19, which has had great economic effects on businesses and economies across the globe. Equity made investments in protecting communities and stakeholders, as it prioritized people and lives over profits.
In partnership with the Kenya COVID-19 Emergency Board, Equity provided PPEs to health workers in 56 county and national hospitals, and 60 faith-based facilities. The lender also supported 17,800 Wings to Fly and Elimu Scholars to cope with the prolonged school closure. It provided them with solar-powered radios and lamps with a mobile charging unit that allowed them to continue learning while providing for their life’s essentials financed by a monthly stipend, supported by the Mastercard Foundation.
During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, Equity focused on social impact investment. The bank did this by forgoing Ksh. 1.5 billion in waived mobile transaction fees, waiving Ksh. 1.2 billion in loan rescheduling fees and accommodating Ksh. 171 billion (31%) of the loan book for up to 3 years.
Commenting on the ranking, Equity Group Managing Director and CEO Dr. James Mwangi said, “These global rankings are truly an affirmation befitting the financial strength and professionalism of the Bank, as well as the measures we took in our response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We strengthened our capital buffers by retaining profits and withholding dividend payouts, took long-term loan facilities that strengthened our liquidity buffers, supported host communities and our clients to mitigate the impact of the crisis on them by waiving fees and rescheduling their loans to match loan repayments to new cashflow patterns.”
Equity Group, which operates in six countries, weathered the COVID-19 disruption to register a 98% growth in its 2021 half-year Profits After Tax to Ksh. 17.9 billion up from Ksh. 9.1 billion the previous year. The Group also reported a growth in total assets to Ksh. 1.12 trillion up from Ksh. 746.5 billion the previous year.