Equity Bank to Fire 1,200 Staff as Profit Falls in First Quarter of 2025
- Equity Bank Group has stepped up measures to fight fraud and cybersecurity threats affecting its performance
- The Group Managing Director, James Mwangi, said that through a staff behaviour audit, the lender has issued sack letters to 1,200 workers over fraud suspicion
- The bank registered a significant decline in net profit for the first quarter ending March 31, 2025
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Wycliffe Musalia has over six years of experience in financial, business, technology, climate, and health reporting, providing deep insights into Kenyan and global economic trends. He currently works as a business editor at TUKO.co.ke.
Equity Group has launched investigations into fraudulent activities involving its staff.
Source: Twitter
On Wednesday, May 29, the lender issued sack notices to 1,200 staff whose bank and mobile money wallets raised suspicions.
The Group had a staff count of 14,000 workers as of 2024, an increase from 13,102 workers in 2023.
Why Equity Group wants to fire staff
The sack letters issued a two-day ultimatum for the 1,200 workers to prove their innocence.
According to Business Daily, if the bank sacks the workers in question, it will exacerbate layoffs that began in mid-May.
The bank fired 287 staff members, including top managers, after investigating 708 workers in April.
Equity Group Managing Director and CEO James Mwangi stated that the staff behaviour audit is aimed at protecting customers' savings and maintaining the bank's image.
"The process of cleaning the bank has just started. I will not spare any staff... I will be ruthless," Mwangi warned.
Mwangi revealed that the probe targets employees who receive cash from customers or bank clients via their bank accounts or M-Pesa wallets.
The lender has been facing numerous fraud cases related to the integrity of its staff.
In May 2024, the bank hired a team of five professionals to help curb rising cases of fraud and cybersecurity threats.
Is fraud affecting Equity's performance?
Source: UGC
The managing director noted that Equity Group is a leading global lender, and the cases of fraud affecting its performance need to stop.
In the first quarter ending March 2025, the Group registered a decline in net profit to KSh 14.8 billion.
This was a 3.86% drop from KSh 15.39 billion, reported during a similar period in 2024.
Non-interest income declined during the same period under review to KSh 19.61 billion, from KSh 22.24 billion in 2024, representing an 11.8% drop.
The bank's Non-Performing Loan (NPL) ratio remained below the industry average at 14%, significantly lower than the 17.2% published industry average.
Equity Bank's profit in 2024
Meanwhile, the lender registered an increase in net profit for the financial year 2024.
The growth represented a 12% jump from KSh 43.7 billion registered in 2023 to KSh 48.8 billion for the year that ended in December 2024.
CEO Mwangi attributed the growth to the lender's business diversification model. The bank boasts subsidiaries and operations across the East African market.
Proofreading by Mercy Nyambura, copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
