Standard Chartered To Sell Its Ksh222 Million Iconic Building In Mombasa

The Standard Chartered Bank Kenya is selling its iconic Treasury Square building in Mombasa.

The building, which housed its first branch opened in 1911, is gazetted as a heritage site designated as a freehold property.

“The property was designated as held for sale in June 2020. Due to the impact of Covid-19 management has not been able to sell the asset within one year from the date of the initial sale decision,” StanChart says in its latest annual report.

“As the circumstances were beyond the group’s control, in line with the group’s accounting policy the asset has been retained as held for sale at 31 December 2021. Management remains committed to selling the property.”

This comes at a time the lender is reducing the number of its brick and mortar branch network in the country. The bank says that at least 92 percent of its institutional clients rely on its digital banking platform Straight2Bank for banking services.

StanChart’s net profit for the financial year ended December 2021 jumped 66 per cent to Ksh9.04 billion — the highest in five years.

“2021 was an exceptional year for the bank despite the ongoing pandemic-driven challenging conditions with profit before tax improving 70 per cent,” said StanChart Kenya Chief Executive Mr Kariuki Ngari.

The bank in November last year spent Sh1.35 billion to lay off 200 staff in a period queues in banking halls had been on the decline, prompting lenders to invest more in digital service channels.

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