Absa’s daily loan restructuring requests fall 98pc from July 1,244 peak

Absa Kenya #ticker:ABSA daily customer requests for loan restructuring have now dropped from the peak of 1,244 in July to about 23, offering hope on the performance of the remaining loan accounts.

Country strategy director at Absa Moses Muthui said in briefing to investors that requests for changes on repayment terms started building up in April, rising steadily to peak last month.

However, the requests have now fallen by 98 percent, signalling that many borrowers rushed to banks as soon as the restructuring window was offered late March.

“We continue to offer support with new requests reducing,” said Mr Muthui.

The Central Bank of Kenya in March directed lenders to offer loan restructuring with no extra charge on customers to help them cope with Covid-19 economic hardships.

Absa disclosed that it had so far restructured Sh57 billion loans or 28.2 percent of the Sh201.9 billion loan book at the end of June.

However, in terms of loan accounts, Absa said customers applied for restructuring on over 56,000 accounts. Absa had 397,000 loan accounts in 2018.

Personal loan accounts took 60 percent of the restructuring while 37 percent belong to credit cards.

Absa gross non-performing loans hit Sh17 billion at the end of last June, an 8.2 percent rise from Sh15.7 billion last year.