Equity Group Holdings Limited

Equity Group Holdings Limited
Public Company
Traded as KN: EQTY
USE: EBL
Industry Banking and Finance
Predecessor Equity Building Society
Founded 1984
Headquarters 9th Floor, Equity Centre
Hospital Road, Upper Hill
Nairobi, Kenya
Key people
 Peter Munga
Chairman
James Mwangi
Group CEO
Products Loans, mortgages, investments, debit cards, credit cards
Revenue Increase Aftertax:US$164.9 million (KES:17.151 billion) (2014)
Total assets US$3.855+ billion (KES:400.993 billion) (Q2:2015)
Number of employees
 6,000+ (2014)
Website www.equitybankgroup.com

Equity Group Holdings Limited (EGHL), formerly Equity Bank Group, is a financial services holding company based in the African Great Lakes region. EGHL's headquarters are in Nairobi, Kenya, with subsidiaries in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Overview

EGHL is a large financial services conglomerate. As of 30 June 2015, it had estimated assets exceeding US$3.855 billion (KES:400.993 billion) and estimated shareholders' equity of more than US$624.875 million (KES:64.996 billion).[1] EGHL has a customer base exceeding 10 million in the six African countries it serves, making it the largest commercial bank on the African continent by customer numbers.[2][3]

In June 2008, EGHL was voted by Euromoney Awards for Excellence as the best bank in Kenya. EGHL was named the overall best bank in Kenya at the Renaissance Capital Bank Awards in August 2008 and was cited locally as the only stock that returned positive shareholder value during 2008 at the Nairobi Stock Exchange. EGHL was named as the Best Performing Company in Africa during the annual African Investor Index Awards, held on 21 September 2009, in New York City.[4] EGHL has exclusive rights to issue American Express credit cards across the African continent outside South Africa.[5]

History

EGHL was founded in Kenya, the largest economy in the East African Community, as the Equity Building Society (EBS) in October 1984. EBS was originally a provider of mortgage financing for customers in the low income population. Large numbers of Africans have historically been excluded from formal sources of capital, such as banks, building societies, and other regulated financial institutions. They knew little about these resources, which makes financial literacy and education strategically important to Equity Bank's growth. Also because of its rural banking orientation, promotion of agribusiness is a significant and strategic intervention by the bank.

Having been declared technically insolvent in 1993, Equity Bank Group later returned to profitability in the following years. By 2011, Equity Bank had more than 7.15 million customers; nearly half of bank accounts in Kenya. The company's vision is "to be the champion of the socio-economic prosperity of the people of Africa".

Equity Bank has been severally voted the "best bank in retail banking" due to, among other factors, the customer dedication and talented management team. In addition to enjoying widespread recognition domestically, the company has attracted a lot of global accolades and awards, as other developing countries in Africa and Asia seek to learn from Equity's low margin, high-volume model.

The Banker listed Equity Bank among the Top 1,000 Banks in the World with the highest return on assets in the African continent, generating a rate of 6.84 per cent on assets employed.[6]

Prior to November 2014, Equity Bank was both a licensed bank and a holding company for its subsidiaries. On 31 October 2014, Equity Bank Group announced its intention to incorporate a new wholly owned subsidiary, Equity Bank (Kenya) Limited, to which it would transfer its Kenyan banking business, assets and liabilities. The rationale for the re-organisation is that by converting Equity Bank into a non-trading holding company that owns both banking and non-banking subsidiary companies and provides strategic, brand, risk and talent management to its subsidiaries, the Group will be better placed to invest and to develop the existing and new businesses as part of its third phase of growth and transformation.[7] These resolutions were all adopted during an extraordinary shareholders general meeting held on 24 November 2014 leading to the formation of Equity Bank Kenya Limited.[8]

In September 2015, the group completed its acquisition of 79 percent of DR Congo based ProCredit Bank Congo SARL from Procredit Group.[9] This acquisition marked the group's entry into sub-Saharan Africa’s third most populous country.[10]

Ownership

The stock of Equity Group Holdings Limited is traded on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, under the symbol: EQTY. On Thursday 18 June 2009, the Group's stock cross listed on the Uganda Securities Exchange and started trading that day, under the symbol: EBL.[11] As of January 2015, shareholding in the group's stock was as depicted in the table below:[12]

Equity Group Holdings Limited Stock Ownership
Rank Name of OwnerPercentage Ownership
1Norfininvest AS of Norway12.23[13][14]
2British-American Investments Company10.63
3National Social Security Fund of Kenya 5.58[3]
4 Genesis Investment Management LLP of the UK 4.21[15]
5Equity Bank Employees’ Share Ownership Plan 4.07
6James Njuguna Mwangi 3.45
7Fortress Highlands Limited 2.73
8 National Social Security Fund of Uganda 2.44[16]
9Andrew Mwangi2.44
10Nelson Muguku1.76
11Others 50.46
Total100.00

Board of directors

Peter Mungai, CBS, chairman
James Mwangi, CBS managing director & chief executive officer
Benson Wairegi, EBS, non-executive vice-chairman
Temitope Lawani, non-executive director
Mr. Bhartesh Shah, chief operations officer
Fredrick Muchoki, HSC, non-executive director
Ernest Nzovu, non-executive director
Babatunde Soyoye, non-executive director
Shem Migot-Adholla, non-executive director, non-executive chairman Equity Bank South Sudan
Helen Gichohi, OGW, MBS, non-executive director
David R. Ansell, non-executive director, non-executive chairman Equity Bank Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania
Alykhan Nathoo, non-executive director
Dennis Aluanga, non-executive director
John Staley, non-executive director Equity Bank Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania
Elizabeth Lwanga, non-executive director Equity Bank Uganda
George Alibaruho, non-executive director Equity Bank Uganda
Mary Wamae, company secretary.[17]

Member companies

The companies that compose the Equity Group Holdings Limited include but are not limited to the following:

  1. Equity Bank Kenya Limited – Nairobi, Kenya Kenya – 100% Shareholding – A commercial bank in Kenya, serving individuals and businesses.
  2. Equity Bank Rwanda Limited – Kigali, Rwanda Rwanda[18][19] – 100% Shareholding – A commercial bank in Rwanda, serving both individuals and businesses.
  3. Equity Bank South Sudan Limited – Juba, South Sudan South Sudan – 100% Shareholding – A commercial bank in South Sudan.
  4. Equity Bank Tanzania Limited – Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Tanzania[20] – 100% Shareholding – A commercial bank in Tanzania.
  5. Equity Bank Uganda Limited – Kampala, Uganda Uganda – 100% Shareholding – A commercial bank in Uganda.
  6. ProCredit Bank Congo SARL – Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo– 79% Shareholding – A commercial bank in DR Congo.
  7. Equity Consulting Group Limited – Nairobi, Kenya Kenya
  8. Equity Insurance Agency Limited – Nairobi, Kenya Kenya – 100% Shareholding – The insurance agency arm of the group. Offering bancassurance services to customers
  9. Equity Nominees Limited – Nairobi, Kenya Kenya – 100% Shareholding – A Nominee company.[21] Holding investments on behalf of customers.[12]
  10. Equity Investment Bank Limited – Nairobi, Kenya Kenya[22] – 100% Shareholding – An investment bank in Kenya. A member of the Nairobi Securities Exchange and licensed by the Capital Markets Authority.
  11. Finserve Africa Limited – Nairobi, Kenya Kenya – 100% Shareholding – A mobile virtual network operator(MVNO) in the Kenya.
  12. Equity Group Foundation – Nairobi, Kenya Kenya – 100% Shareholding – The philanthropy and corporate social responsibility arm of the group.

See also

References

  1. ↑ EGHL (August 2015). "Equity Bank Group Financial Statement As At 30th July 2015" (PDF). Equity Group Holdings Limited (EGHL). Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  2. ↑ Flood, Zoe (3 July 2014). "Kenya's Mobile Innovation Brings Digital Money Closer". BBC News. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  3. 1 2 Juma, Victor (6 August 2015). "Helios exits Equity Group with sale of final stake to NSSF". Business Daily Africa. Nairobi. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  4. ↑ Juuko, Sylvia (28 September 2009). "Equity Scoops Best Company Awards". New Vision (Kampala). Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  5. ↑ Okuttah, Mark (15 October 2014). "Equity Bank To Issue AmEx Cards Across Africa". Business Daily Africa (Nairobi). Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  6. ↑ Business Daily Reporter, . (22 July 2014). "Super Profits Earn Equity, KCB Top Global Rankings". Business Daily Africa (Nairobi). Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  7. ↑ EBG, . (31 October 2014). "Circular To Shareholders for The Transfer of The Kenyan Banking Business To A Newly Created, Wholly Owned Subsidiary". Equity Bank Group (EBG). Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  8. ↑ "Results of the Extra-ordinary General Meeting of Equity Bank Limited held on 24th November, 2014". http://equitybankgroup.com/. Equity Bank Group. 24 November 2014. Retrieved 26 November 2014. External link in |website= (help)
  9. ↑ Ngugi, Brian (17 September 2015). "Equity Bank Completes Acquisition of DRC's ProCredit Bank". Business Daily Africa. Nairobi. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  10. ↑ Obulutsa, George (26 May 2015). "Kenya's Equity Bank To Expand To Congo via Acquisition - CEO". Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  11. ↑ Newvision, Archive (21 June 2009). "Equity Bank Cross-Lists On USE". New Vision (Kampala). Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  12. 1 2 Herbling, David (2 January 2013). "Muguku Family Sells More Shares In Equity Bank". Business Daily Africa (Nairobi). Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  13. ↑ Business Daily Reporter, . (16 January 2015), "Equity’s Largest Shareholder Helios Sells 12 Percent Stake", Business Daily Africa (Nairobi), retrieved 16 January 2015
  14. ↑ Gachiri, John (18 January 2015). "Norwegians Snap Up Equity Stake In Africa Buying Blitz". Business Daily Africa (Nairobi). Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  15. ↑ "Completion of Purchase Of 4.21% Stake in Equity Group Holdings Limited (Equity Group) by Genesis Investment Management LLP (Genesis) from Helios EB Investors II, Ltd (Helios)" (PDF). http://www.heliosinvestment.com/. Helios Investment Partners. 2015-06-30. Retrieved 2015-08-06. External link in |website= (help)
  16. ↑ Ngigi, George (24 June 2015). "Helios loses top slot in Equity after stake sale to NSSF Uganda". Business Daily Africa. Nairobi. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  17. ↑ EBG, . "Equity Bank Kenya: Board of Directors". Equity Bank Group (EBG). Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  18. ↑ Namata, Berna (4 April 2011). "Equity Gets Kigali's Nod To Set Up Shop In Rwanda". The EastAfrican (Nairobi). Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  19. ↑ Staff Reporter, . (7 November 2011). "Rwanda: Equity Bank Enters Rwanda". East African Business Week (Kampala). Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  20. ↑ Kimani, Mwaura (31 January 2011). "Equity Bank Eyes 20 Percent Profits Outside Kenya". The EastAfrican (Nairobi). Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  21. ↑ "Nominee Director and Nominee Companies". www.offshore-islands.com. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  22. ↑ Kangethe, Kennedy (19 August 2013). "Kenya: CBA Capital, Equity Investment Bank Join NSE". 98.4 Capital FM (Nairobi) via AllAfrica.com. Retrieved 28 November 2014.

External links

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