Yes, regional expansion is the way to go, but I have a feeling the region is too crowded with banks. Outside Kenya, the contribution to EB's bottomline might not be significant.

EB's growth may (will) indeed taper off. The days of triple digit profit growth are clearly behind us. Growth is however unlikely to slow down to the extent of the likes of BBK or even KCB (especially on an EPS basis).

You will note that in Q3 2010, PAT increased significantly, notwithstanding that loan growth was relatively slower. During the next year and beyond, I expect loan growth to resume at a higher rate.

This will come from Equity's greater engagement with SMEs and Corporates, who currently form a fairly small proportion of EB's portfolio. This will further enable EB to grow income streams such as foreign currency exchange dealing. This has grown impressively in 2010 but is still much less than say that at KCB, Barclays and Stanchart.

I also believe that there is still a lot more income to be unlocked from Equity's nearly 5 million accounts. As the economy grows, EB will be able to reap from these for quite a while yet as they increase the volume of transactions.

Subsidiaries/assocaites will also start contributing more robustly to the group's profits. As of Q3 2010, overall, these were acting as a drag on the Group's profitability.

hahahahahahaha!!!!....SUITS!!....Nusu mkeka na hata choo!!...Watu wengine bure kabisa!

for a shareholder like me thats ok.kwana suit ya owner of biz or the worker which should be expensive.start your own biz bro.

uhmmm if for long term yes...but why not mid tier banks i.e Nic..HFCK.Dtbk...they have room for growth...or other financial stocks like JHL..i wish u went in big early this year as we approach the 5000 mark things are becoming RISKY...