NBK to use Sh600m in setting up new branches

National Bank of Kenya is investing Sh600 million in setting up 20 new branches this year.

The plan includes launching one in any of the 47 counties where it is currently not operating.

The move, which comes at a time when other banks are initiating austerity measures by either reducing their workforce or opting for agency banking to cut on expenses is an indication that NBK, which was once on the brink of collapse, is back on track.

“The expansion, which is aimed at satisfying the huge demand for banking services, is our top priority before we even think of expanding into the region and even internationally,” NBK managing director Reuben Marambii said on Monday.

The bank’s shareholders are expected to be paid dividends this year, bringing to an end a 12-year drought.

“Auditing of the books is going on and nothing will stop us from paying dividends to shareholders,” he said during the relaunch of the bank’s branch at Kenya Revenue Authority’s Times Tower headquarters.

However, the sale of the government’s preferential shares to the bank’s existing shareholders, largely pegged on the privatisation of the institution, remains uncertain.

Mr Marambii said: “It is up to the government when it will sell the shares.”

The government owns about 22 per cent of the bank’s shares.

The bank’s shares traded at Sh45.50 on Monday, recording a 1.11 per cent increase from the previous day.

Previously, the fifth floor branch used to serve KRA staff only but the new development will open it to the public, a move aimed at raising its profit margins.

KRA Commissioner-General Michael Waweru said the decision to move the NBK branch from the fifth to the ground floor is part of the innovativeness required as the market becomes increasingly competitive.