I&M Bank Plans to Fundraise for Regional Expansion.

I&M Bank Ltd., plans to raise money in the next year to fund its regional expansion, Chief Executive Officer Arun Mathur said. This comes as I&M Bank is set to being trading at the NSE this month.
The bank plans to begin operations in Uganda in the next 12 months, possibly by acquiring an existing lender, before venturing into South Sudan and Zambia, Executive Director Sarit Raja-Shah said in an interview to Bloomberg news. I&M already operates in Tanzania, Rwanda and Mauritius.

“We are still thinking of how to raise money,” Mathur, 59, said. He said the company has not yet determined how much it plans to raise. “There could be a rights issue, there could be an issue of debt and equity” carried out by July 2014, he said.

Profit increased by 21 percent at Kenyan banks last year to 107.9 billion shillings ($1.26 billion), helped by a surge in interest income after the central bank raised its benchmark rate to a record. Total assets grew 15 percent to 2.33 trillion shillings, according to central bank data. Earnings may grow further
this year as Kenya’s economy is expected to grow by 6 percent, according to Moody’s rating forecast.
With 41 other banks operating in Kenya, including Equity Bank Ltd. and Kenya Commercial Bank Ltd., the two largest by market value, I&M is expanding regionally as the industry becomes more competitive, Mathur said.

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