Nairobi, May 24 -- KCB Group net profit for the first three months of the year has dropped by 2.9 percent to Sh9.5 billion on increased costs, including that of consolidating the unit it acquired in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) last December.

The retreat in net earnings from Sh9.79 billion posted in the first quarter of 2022 was despite the growth in both interest and transactions income during the review period.

Net interest income rose 11.8 percent to Sh22.06 billion as the loan book hit Sh928.8 billion in March from Sh863.3 billion in December.

Non-interest income grew by 59.2 percent to Sh14.79 billion, with the lender attributing this to increased service fee earnings tied to increased digital transactions.

KCB, however...