Kenyan multimillionaire businessman and leading banking executive James Mwangi is set to receive $3.35 million in dividends from his stake in Equity Group Holdings.
Equity Group Holdings Limited is a leading financial services conglomerate located in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital and largest city. It operates through subsidiaries in Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in addition to its Kenyan operations.
Under the leadership of Mwangi, who controls a substantial 3.38-percent stake in the Kenyan lender, Equity Group has expanded into East and Central Africa’s largest financial services group.
The $3.3-million dividend the multimillionaire businessman is set to receive will be paid from the group’s retained earnings of approximately Ksh146.78 billion ($1.28 billion) as part of the cash distribution approved by the board of directors.
According to its recently published financial statement, profit after tax at the end of 2021 rose by 99 percent from Ksh20.1 billion ($175.5 million) in 2020 to Ksh40.1 billion ($350.2 million), owing to the consistent growth in interest and non-interest income, as well as well-executed cost and treasury management strategies throughout the year.
The performance translated into an increase in the bank’s assets, as its balance sheet expanded by 29 percent, from Ksh1.015 trillion ($8.9 billion) to Ksh1.305 trillion ($11.44 billion), thanks to a 29-percent increase in customer deposits.
As a result of the bank’s financial success in 2021, the board of directors proposed a dividend of Ksh3 ($0.0262) per share, a total pay-out of Ksh11.3 billion ($98.7 million) to shareholders.
According to the board’s decision, Mwangi who holds a beneficial 3.38-percent stake in the Kenyan group will receive Ksh798.8 million ($3.35 million) in dividends from his stake.