HF Appoints New Group Chief Executive Officer

 HF Group outgoing Group CEO Mr. Frank Ireri (lefts) hands over to the new Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Robert Kibaara (centre). The handover was witnessed by HF Group Chairman, Steve Mainda. 

HF Group Plc has today announced the appointment of a new Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Robert Kibaara.  Mr Kibaara takes over from the outgoing Group CEO Mr. Frank Ireri who has been at the helm of the institution for the past thirteen years. 

Commenting on the appointment, HF Group’s Chairman, Steve Mainda said the appointment of  Mr. Kibaara marks a critical milestone for the Group as it comes at a time when HF has embarked on a new turnaround strategy focusing on full service banking, with investment in digital and retail banking.

“Mr. Kibaara is a seasoned banker who has an excellent track record of success in driving change and delivering outstanding business results over the years. In his new role, Robert will provide strategic leadership and oversight of the group’s turnaround strategy.”

With 24 years of banking experience, Mr Kibaara joins HF Group from NIC Bank where he served as the  Director for Retail Banking, and was instrumental in the growth of retail customer numbers and in the overall funding of the Bank through deposit mobilization. Prior to his tenure  at NIC Bank, Mr. Kibaara  held several leadership positions including Executive Director - Retail and Business Banking at National Bank of Kenya; General Manager - Integrated Distribution for Southern Africa and General Manager Personal Banking & New Business at Standard Chartered Bank; among other executive positions at Barclays Bank of Kenya.

He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Banking and Finance from University of Sunderland (UK) and a Post Graduate Diploma from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) UK.

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KENINDIA ASSURANCE MARKS 40TH ANNIVERSARY

Kenindia Assurance has reiterated its commitment to doing business in Kenya even as it repositions itself for accelerated growth within East Africa. The insurance company, which is celebrating its 40^th anniversary in Kenya, is looking at product diversification and regional expansion. Under its new strategic direction, Kenindia seeks to achieve a customer satisfaction index of 95 per cent matched by customer retention of 95 per cent in the short term.

Kenindia Managing Director Mr. Inderjeet Singh said that their 40 years of experience and national presence has given the brand the ability to understand the needs of the market, and bring to the table innovative products and quality financial solutions and services that essentially deliver unique experience to their customers.

“As we celebrate our 40^th anniversary, it is our vision to move to a strategic position regionally to address and meet the demands of an ever changing customer base with the aim of creating a cohesive business culture across all business units and countries of operation,” said Mr. Singh.

Mr. Singh added that the insurer would continue investing heavily in information and communications technology systems to expand its regional network while improving their service delivery.

“We are working with the latest platforms and versions of Genisys and E-Life to ensure quality service provision and faster turnaround time to our customers,” said Mr. Singh.

The insurer has since grown to be one of the largest insurers in the country with a growing network of 13 branch outlets across the country and a large network of brokers and agents supported by digitized solutions.

Kenindia Chairman Mr. Mahendra Mehta said that the insurer’s underlying strategy is to continue to digitize, make customer experience seamless, personalized and omni-channel as it moves into the future.

“We continue to reaffirm our commitment to the people of Kenya as we look forward to celebrating the next 40^th year of our operations in the region," said Mr. Mehta.

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HF Group CIO George Njuguna voted CIO of the Year

George Njuguna, Chief Information Officer, HF Group was voted ‘CIO of the Year’ for 2018 during the 10^th Anniversary of CIO East Africa gala awards hosted at Enashipai Resort in Naivasha, Kenya.

Consequently, HF Group also won the Gold Mark and Plus One Award - best financial Services Sector awards for its innovative digital banking platform, HF Whizz.

Organized by CIO East Africa Magazine, The prestigious  Annual CIO 100 Awards celebrate 100 organizations (and the people within them) who are using information technology in innovative ways to deliver business value, whether by creating competitive advantage, optimizing business processes, enabling growth or improving relationships with customers.

Mr. Njuguna’s charge has been to create a vision, direction and delivery program for the company’s digital transformation agenda.

One of his main achievement is the launch of the Group’s digital financial services platform, HF Whizz, which has enabled the Group’s banking subsidiary HFC to diversify and grow its digital banking business while addressing consumer demand for banking on the go.

“The development of the Whizz platform was a huge undertaking and is one which I’m proud of as it advances ideas that deliver on the evolving business needs and high customer expectations and at the same time addresses a broader strategic objectives of the business,” he said.

While congratulation his team for the big win, the HF Group Acting Managing Director Sam Waweru reiterated that the win is a big vote of confidence for the strategic investment the Group has made in digital banking.

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Housing Finance Posts Sh325m Pre-Tax Loss

Sam Waweru, HF Ag Managing Director

HF Group has reported a pre-tax loss of Ksh325m for the period ending 30 September 2018. Customer deposits for the period recorded an increase of 3 % to Ksh34.6 billion up from Ksh33.6 billion registered in 2017. Loans and advances to customers declined by 11% from Ksh51.1 billion in 2017 to Ksh45.4 billion. As a result, net interest income declined from Ksh2.1 billion in 2017 to Ksh1.7 billion, attributable to lower loan interest and investment incomes in the current period.

Total non-interest income decreased by 7 % due to lower property sales and credit fees from loan sales recorded during the period.

Total gross non-performing loans (NPLs) increased during the period to stand at Ksh8.9 billion from Ksh8.1 billion, occasioned by unfavorable macroeconomic factors which largely affected the financial and real estate sectors in the country. Equally, the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS 9) has meant that the Group had to take a higher provision on a comparatively lower loan book.

Commenting on the results, the acting Group Managing Director, Mr. Sam Waweru said; “Whereas the performance is attributable to several macro-economic factors that have adversely affected business, we have a revamped strategy that aims to diversify and turnaround the business. Previously, our strategy was anchored on real estate and property finance business; however, our future strategy includes diversification that includes investment in digital and full service banking capacity in order to grow revenue streams as we reduce reliance on a monolithic business.”

In late July 2018, the banking arm of the group – HFC Ltd - launched a strategic focus on digital banking via a financial services platform dubbed HF Whizz. So far, the strategy has resulted in the acquisition of over 200,000 new customers, majority being in the micro segment, who have benefited from micro loans and other full banking services available on the platform.

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Kenya Power posts KShs3.1 billion in annual gross profit

Kenya Power has today announced a gross profit of KShs.3.1 billion for the year ended 30^th June 2018.

During the trading period, electricity sales increased by 2.3 % from 8,272 million units the previous year to 8,459 million units due to an expanded customer base. Consequently, revenue from sale of electricity grew from KShs.91.95 billion to KShs.95.463 billion.

Power purchase costs excluding fuel and foreign exchange costs increased by KShs.2.6 billion to KShs.52.8 billion during the period under review mainly attributed to a 13.5% increase in units purchased from geothermal plants from 4,451 GWh to 5,053 GWh.

In the year ended 30^th June 2017, the Company posted KShs.7.6 billion in gross profit. The decline in profitability experienced in the year under review is mainly attributable to an increment in provision for debts and a 14.1% rise in transmission and distribution costs from KShs.34.7 billion incurred the previous year to KShs.39.6 billion.

“In the period under review, the Company made more provisions for debt to meet the industry financial standards. This means that we had to make provision for any debt that is more than 30 days old. This coupled with the rise in transmission and distribution costs drastically reduced our profit before tax,” said Kenya Power’s Ag. Managing Director & CEO Eng. Jared Othieno.

In addition, the period was characterized by poor hydrology and prolonged electioneering period which led to declined growth in the manufacturing and agriculture sectors that are among the largest consumers of electricity.

In the period under review, finance income increased to KShs.100 million compared to Kshs.46 million realized in the previous year due to increased bank balances. On the other hand, finance costs increased by 29.3% to KShs.7.8 billion as a result of use of short term borrowings to bridge cash flow shortfalls.

As a result of the performance, the directors do not recommend payment of dividend to shareholders.

In the short term, the Company’s management is focused on provision of quality power supply by strengthening the electricity network and streamlining internal processes to improve customer experience and overall performance.

“We have embarked on implementation of the new Corporate Strategic Plan which lays emphasis on improving employees’ productivity; providing adequate, quality and reliable power supply; improving service delivery and ensuring financial sustainability,” said Eng. Othieno.

The Strategic Plan was formulated in cognizance of the dynamic business environment, technological advancements and anticipated policy changes in the energy sector.

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