Sat 15 Aug 2009 | 5:11 GMT

　　Kenya's DTB H1 pretax profit up 20 pct

　　Thu Aug 13, 2009 12:57pm GMT

　　NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's Diamond Trust Bank posted a 20 percent increase in first half pretax profit to 859 million shillings following regional expansion, its MD said on Thursday. Ranked Kenya's seventh biggest bank by assets, DTB made 719 million in pretax profit in the same period last year. Total operating income rose to 2.4 billion for the first six months while group assets grew by 56 percent to 64 billion shillings from 41 billion during the same period last year. "The six months' results have benefited from the continuing growth of our customer base across the region with a marked increase in operating revenue, particularly from active money market operations," said Nasim Devji. The bank achieved this growth despite the challenges posed by the global financial crisis, Devji said. Diamond Trust operates in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Burundi and plans to open another 25 branches in the region this year. It is also hoping to break into Madagascar, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo. It received a $25 million loan from the World Bank's private sector lending arm last year to boost its lending and finance expansion plans. Market Update

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