Kenya Commercial Bank, the top ranked bank in Kenya last year, is to announce its half-year profit for this year at 1.00 pm today, one day after the bank’s shares yesterday climbed to their highest price of just under three years at the Nairobi Securities Exchange.

Shares in KCB yesterday gained 1.04 percent to close at KES 24.25 up from KES 24.00 on Tuesday marking a record closing price last seen in late 2009 according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The bank’s shares have been on an overall climb this year gaining a total 56 percent buoyed by being one of the most highly sought blue chip shares at the NSE this year. Read more on this here. In addition, the share’s steep gains have been fuelled by investor anticipation on today’s earnings announcement according to Independent Analyst Kimathi Ikiao.

KCB’s position as the most profitable Kenyan bank was broken in the three months to March this year as Equity Bank posted a pre-tax profit of 3.7 billion shillings which was 9 percent higher KCB’s 3.4 billion shillings, making the former Kenya’s most profitable bank to date. For the year ended 2011, KCB was the biggest earner in Kenya’s banking industry, earning a profit before tax of 15.1 billion shillings from 9.8 billion shillings in 2010.

The three months from April to June this year have seen KCB elect a new Group Chairman, Eng. Musa Ndeto, who replaced Peter Wanyaga Muthoka after the latter retired on completing his full eight year term. Additionally, the bank has made a 5 million shilling partnership with the Acumen Fund to support entrepreneurs in East African countries.

As of 11 am today, KCB shares were trading at the NSE with no change from yesterday’s closing price at KES 24.25. Going by the latest survey carried out last year, KCB  was Kenya’s biggest bank by asset base with assets totaling 273.9 billion shillings and operations in Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan.