Equity vs KCB: Who Really Won Kenya’s Banking Race in 2025?

Kenya’s listed banks posted profit growth in FY2025, with eight of nine tier one institutions reporting higher earnings compared to 2024.

Equity Group Holdings reported the largest profit in Kenyan corporate history at KSh 75.5 billion, while Standard Chartered Kenya was the sector’s only bank to record a profit decline.

Profit Rankings: Equity Group Leads, StanChart Falls

Equity Group Holdings posted profit after tax of KSh 75.5 billion for the year ended 31 December 2025, up 55 percent from KSh 48.8 billion in 2024. The result marks the first time a Kenyan company has surpassed KSh 75 billion in annual profit. Regional subsidiaries outside Kenya contributed 51 percent of banking profit before tax, with the DRC unit posting KSh 24.7 billion and Uganda recording growth of 500 percent off a low base.

KCB Group reported profit after tax of KSh 68.4 billion, up 11 percent. The group’s loan book grew 16.2 percent to KSh 1.25 trillion, while total assets reached KSh 2.15 trillion. KCB declared a total dividend of KSh 22.5 billion, the largest in the group’s history.

Co-operative Bank of Kenya posted KSh 29.8 billion, up 16.9 percent, with net interest income rising 22 percent to KSh 62.9 billion. I&M Group posted KSh 19.8 billion, up 24 percent, driven by a 31 percent rise in fee and commission income. DTB Kenya Group reported KSh 10.7 billion, up 21 percent, as deposits crossed KSh 500 billion for the first time.

Standard Chartered Kenya reported profit after tax of KSh 12.44 billion, down 38 percent from KSh 20.06 billion in 2024. The bank attributed the decline to a normalisation in interest rates and foreign exchange conditions, which had inflated the 2024 result. A KSh 2.6 billion pension charge from a court ruling also increased operating costs. The bank noted the result is the third-highest profit in its 119-year Kenya history and held its dividend at KSh 31 per share.

Table 1: FY2025 Profit Comparison

Balance Sheet: Two Banks Cross the Trillion Mark

KCB Group and Equity Group both hold total assets above KSh 1.9 trillion, separating them from the rest of the sector by balance sheet size. KCB Group total assets reached KSh 2.15 trillion while Equity Group reached KSh 1.97 trillion. Co-op Bank crossed KSh 800 billion for the first time.

Standard Chartered Kenya was the only bank to record a contraction in total assets, falling 5.5 percent to KSh 363.5 billion. Customer deposits fell 4.1 percent. The bank holds capital adequacy of 20.36 percent against a 10.5 percent regulatory minimum.

Stanbic Holdings recorded the fastest asset growth in the cohort at 18.9 percent to KSh 541.3 billion, with loans rising 18.5 percent. The growth was supported by a doubling of diaspora remittance market share, from 7 percent to 13 percent.

Table 2: Balance Sheet Comparison

Asset Quality: NPL Ratios Fall at Eight Banks

Eight of nine banks reported stable or lower NPL ratios. Standard Chartered achieved its best credit quality since before the 2020 pandemic, with the NPL ratio falling to 5.4 percent from 7.4 percent and gross NPLs down 26.5 percent. KCB Group cut its NPL ratio to 16.9 percent from 19.2 percent, with regulatory coverage at 122.4 percent. DTB Kenya set a target to bring its ratio below 10 percent by end of 2026.

NCBA Group was the exception. Gross NPLs rose 10.3 percent and provision charges increased 46.3 percent to KSh 8 billion. This compressed the gap between total income growth of 16.9 percent and profit growth of 7 percent by nine percentage points.

Table 3: Asset Quality Comparison

Efficiency: Digital Channels Drive Cost Reduction

Absa Bank Kenya recorded the sector’s best cost-to-income ratio at 36.5 percent, following a 5 percent reduction in operating costs and a 32 percent fall in impairment charges. The bank processes 94 percent of transactions through digital channels. KCB Group improved its ratio to 42.5 percent from 45.4 percent, with 99 percent of transactions off branch. Equity Group cut the ratio to 51 percent from 58.2 percent, with more than 98 percent of transactions processed digitally.

Standard Chartered Kenya’s cost-to-income ratio rose to 60.2 percent from 44.3 percent, driven by the KSh 2.6 billion pension charge. The bank said underlying expenses grew 4 percent when the one-off charge is excluded, which would place the normalised ratio at approximately 54 percent.

Table 4: Efficiency and Returns Comparison

Dividends: All Banks Raise Payouts Except Standard Chartered

Co-op Bank raised its dividend per share 67 percent to KSh 2.50. KCB Group declared a total dividend of KSh 22.5 billion, up 133 percent. Equity Group raised its dividend 35 percent to KSh 5.75 per share. I&M Group declared its fifth consecutive annual increase. NCBA Group raised its dividend 29 percent to KSh 7.10 per share at an estimated yield of 8 percent.

Standard Chartered Kenya reduced its dividend to KSh 31 per share from KSh 45 in 2024, citing lower earnings. The board maintained a 95 percent payout ratio, the highest in the bank’s history, extending a consecutive dividend run of at least 38 years.

Table 5: Dividend and Shareholder Returns Comparison

Context: Rate Cuts and the Nedbank Deal

The Central Bank of Kenya cut its benchmark rate by a cumulative 225 basis points during 2025. The cuts reduced net interest income at banks with large floating-rate loan books but supported credit demand. Stanbic Holdings absorbed a 1.2 percent fall in net interest income by growing fee income. Standard Chartered saw interest on loans fall 25.9 percent, partly offset by a 14.3 percent increase in government securities income.

NCBA Group disclosed that Nedbank Group of South Africa has notified the board of its intention to acquire up to 54.98 percent of NCBA’s issued share capital. The transaction is subject to approval from the Capital Markets Authority, the Central Bank of Kenya, and competition authorities.