Nairobi, April 3 -- First Community Bank (FCB) has disclosed a shortfall of more than Sh1 billion in core capital, revealing the extent of the crisis that pushed its owners to sell a majority stake to a Mogadishu-based lender in a rescue deal.

The small lender's latest books of account show that the core capital dropped from Sh1.65 billion in September to negative Sh331 million in December, sending it into a breach of the capital strength ratios required by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK).

The unexplained fall in core capital within three months pushed its owners to resort to selling a 62.5 percent stake to Mogadishu's Premier Bank Limited (Somalia) for Sh2.8 billion.

Premier Bank was offered 10.8 million new shares to inject in Sh2.8 ...