Amid a tough business operating environment marked by high levels of non-performing loans and high cost of living, KCB Group PLC has posted a Ksh47.3 billion in profit after tax for the nine months ended September 2025 compared to Ksh 45.7 billion recorded in a similar period of 2024.

The notable performance driven by higher income across business lines and well managed cost, according to the group, saw its balance sheet expand by 2.6 per cent to Ksh2.04 trillion, despite the sale of National Bank of Kenya (NBK) in May 2025.

As per the bank’s evaluation, the balance sheet grew by 10.9 per cent demonstrating the Group’s strong bandwidth to support customers across the seven countries where KCB operates.

“Despite a tough operating environment in all our markets, we have delivered a strong performance showing the resilience of the Group,” said KCB group CEO Paul Russo during the results announcements.

“We continue to execute our business strategy that is anchored on ‘Transforming Today Together’ and build an agile business that is targeted at transforming the lives of our customers and delivering value for our shareholders and all other stakeholders,”

Its total revenue grew 4.5 per cent, to Ksh149.4 billion, on increased net interest income that rose 12.4 per cent to Ksh104.3 billion while non-interest income closed the period at Ksh45.1 billion.

“The Group’s digital channels helped ring-fence Non-Funded Income (NFI), which came under pressure from reduced foreign exchange earnings, decline in fees and commissions from TMB due to closure of branches in Eastern DRC,” Russo added.

At the same time, figures from the financials released on Wednesday, highlight that the stock of gross loans and advances during the period rose 7 per cent to Ksh1.24 trillion, with deliberate focus on key economic drivers such as building and construction, agriculture, manufacturing, energy and water.

Similarly, KCB Group subsidiaries excluding KCB Bank Kenya maintained strong performance, with their profit before tax making up 35.0 per cent of the overall Group earnings and 31.3 per cent of the Group balance sheet.

Subsidiaries drive strong growth

The three non-banking subsidiaries delivered strong Profit Before Tax (PBT) performance, in that, KCB Bancassurance Intermediary recorded KSh 833 million, a 16 per cent growth; KCB Investment Bank recorded Ksh230 million, a 90 per cent growth and KCB Asset Management which had Ksh118 million representing a 71 per cent growth.

Meanwhile, mid this year, the Bank launched a new mobile banking profile that has boosted transactions and the Group’s digital proposition as the share of NFI stood at 30.2 per cent of the total revenue.

“The new mobile platform comes with self-onboarding capabilities, allowing customers to register and begin banking instantly.”

The Group maintained a stable deposit franchise across all markets, closing the nine months at Ksh1.52 trillion with a stable deposit mix.

Looking at asset quality and coverage, the Non-Performing Loans (NPL) ratio stood at 17.8 per cent, down from 18.5 per cent helped by recovery actions coupled with sale of NBK even as the Group maintained a strong capital and liquidity buffers, with all banking subsidiaries compliant with regulatory expectations.

Furthermore, the Group’s core capital as a proportion of total risk-weighted assets stood at 17.0 per cent against the statutory minimum of 10.5 per cent while the total capital to total risk-weighted assets ratio was at 19.6 per cent against a regulatory minimum of 14.5 per cent.

On shareholder returns, Return on Equity (ROAE) stood at 21.6 per cent while Return on Assets (ROA) stood at 3.1 per cent with total equity attributable to KCB Group PLC shareholders that stood at Ksh308.5 billion.