NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenya’s Family Bank said on Thursday its profit for this year is likely to fall by at least 25 percent due to higher funding costs and expenses associated with a round of job cuts.

The mid-tier lender, whose shares are traded on the Nairobi Securities Exchange’s Over-The-Counter market, said its pre-tax profit for the first nine months of this year plunged 46.6 percent to 1.45 billion shillings ($14.24 million), after costs rose.

The bank is cutting an unspecified number of jobs to contain costs. Prospects for Kenyan lenders dimmed in August when the government capped commercial lending rates and set a minimum deposit rate.

($1 = 101.8000 Kenyan shillings)

(Reporting by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)