NCBA Group directors, including chairman James Ndegwa, acquired an additional 8.09 million shares with a current market value of Sh404.9 million, raising their stakes in the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed lender.
The company’s latest annual report shows that Desterio Oyatsi raised his holdings the most by 5.5 million shares in the year ended December 2024 to reach 21.7 million shares in the period.
This raised his ownership to 1.32 percent from the prior year when his 16.1 million shares gave him a 0.98 percent equity.
The additional shares acquired last year are currently worth Sh275.8 million and have lifted Mr Oyatsi to the billionaire’s club based on his NCBA ownership alone. His ownership in the bank is now worth Sh1.08 billion.
James Ndegwa and his brother Andrew Ndegwa, meanwhile, saw their effective interests in the lender rise by almost similar margins even as their family’s flagship investment vehicle—First Chartered Securities— maintained its ownership in the bank at 14.94 percent or 246.14 million shares.
James’ holdings rose by 1.29 million shares with a current market value of Sh64.8 million to reach 76.5 million shares equivalent to a 4.65 percent stake.
That of Andrew increased by 1.28 million shares worth Sh64.2 million to 77.6 million shares, giving him an ownership of 4.71 percent in the lender.
NCBA says the disclosed stakes of the directors covers their direct or indirect beneficial interest in the firm. This means that the ownership includes shares bought by an individual directly and his portion of the lender’s shares held through an investment vehicle.
NCBA has significantly raised its dividend payout in recent years after its creation following the merger of the former NIC Group and Commercial Bank of Africa Limited (CBA) in 2019.
The lender has declared a dividend of Sh5.5 per share for the year ended December 2024, amounting to a total distribution of Sh9.06 billion, which represents a payout of 41.5 percent of net income for the period.
The bank had paid a dividend of Sh4.75 per share in the prior year which was a total of Sh7.82 billion and amounted to a payout of 36.5 percent of the net profit.
“Over the current strategic cycle (2020 to 2024), the group has returned Sh31 billion (44 percent of profit after tax) to shareholders, driven by consistent earnings growth,” said NCBA in the report.
“Earnings per share has risen steadily, reaching Sh13.27 in 2024 from Sh2.77 in 2020, underscoring the group’s commitment to delivering strong shareholder value.”
NCBA posted a 1.9 percent growth in net profit last year, helped by a decline in loan loss provision.
The company’s net profit stood at Sh21.8 billion in the period compared to Sh21.4 billion a year earlier. Provision for bad loans fell by Sh3.6 billion to Sh5.4 billion, contributing to total operating expenses declining by Sh595.5 million to Sh37.6 billion.
