Page 1

EQUITY Press Release EQUITY GROUP EMERGES RESILIENT AMIDST MULTIPLE CRISIS 54 % growth in total assets 58 % growth in customer deposits 64 % growth in profit after tax 31 % strong topline revenue growth ➤ Strong revised 2021 outlook Nairobi May 26th 2021 ...... Equity Group has returned strong quarter one results in a challenging environment amidst the multi - faceted Covid - 19 crisis of health , economic disruption , and humanitarian challenges , giving hope of resilience and recovery . " Our strategy ; purpose - first , inclusivity , affordability , reach , agility and quality have proven resilient and sustainable " said Dr. James Mwangi , the Equity Group CEO while releasing the first quarter of 2021 financial results . “ Purpose has proved profitable ” he added . During the multi - crisis year , Equity focused on social impact investment in health investing Kshs.1.7 billion in social response to society , forgoing Kshs.1.5 billion in waived mobile transaction fees , waiving Kshs.1.2 billion in loan rescheduling fees and accommodating Kshs.171 billon ( or 31 % ) of the loan book for up to 3 years of principal and interest repayment breaks to enable businesses to survive . " We kept the lights of the economies we operate in on , supported businesses to repurpose , retool and recover by supporting livelihoods of our customers during the crisis ” , said Dr. Mwangi . He added , " We have adopted a two - pronged strategy of being offensive and defensive . We strengthened our capital buffers by retaining profits and withholding dividend payouts , took long - term loan facilities that strengthened our liquidity buffers , supported host communities and our clients to mitigate the impact of the crisis on them by waiving fees and rescheduling their loans to match loan repayments to new cashflow patterns . Internally , we focused on risk mitigation and management in a challenging environment , enhanced our NPL coverage through provisions and sought collaboration with development financial institutions on credit and risk sharing guarantees . We evolved our organization structure through strong governance focus on risk management , diversity of skills and competencies to enhance our succession planning and mitigation of key person risks ” , added Dr. Mwangi . Operationally , the Group focused on generating and growing non - funded income , treasury efficiency , geographical expansion and business diversification , business transformation through innovation and digitization , balance sheet optimization and agility , asset quality and risk mitigation while pursuing efficiencies and brand development through social impact investment underscoring the performance of the Group . Interest income grew by 32 % while non - funded income grew by 30 % to contribute 42 % of total income . Regional subsidiaries registered resilience and robust growth to contribute 40 % of total deposits and total assets and 23 % of profit before tax with Rwanda and Uganda delivering above cost of capital returns .