NCBA, backed by Kenya’s richest families, posts $42.3 million Q1 profit

Key Points

• NCBA posted a 3.41% year-on-year profit increase in Q1 2025 to $42.4 million, supported by strong cost control and core income resilience.
• Interest income fell 10% to $132.87 million, while non-interest income dropped 4.5% due to a sharp decline in forex trading revenue.
• Operating income rose 8.5% to $134.1 million, with growth in fee and commission income partly offsetting declining loan book and customer deposits.

NCBA Group, the financial services giant backed by some of Kenya’s richest families, opened 2025 with a modest profit rise to $42.4 million, reaffirming its standing as a key player in East Africa’s banking sector despite ongoing macroeconomic headwinds.

NCBA posts modest profit growth amid loan book pressure

According to the group’s recently published financial results, NCBA reported a 3.41 percent year-on-year rise in profit to Ksh5.48 billion ($42.42 million) for the quarter ended March 2025, up from Ksh5.3 billion ($40.1 million) a year earlier. 

The single-digit profit increase came amid a slowdown in both interest and non-interest income, driven by a contraction in the loan book. Interest income dropped to Ksh17.17 billion ($132.87 million) from Ksh19.11 billion ($147.83 million), while non-interest income declined 4.5 percent to Ksh7.36 billion ($56.97 million) from Ksh7.71 billion ($59.64 million).

The dip in non-interest income was largely due to a sharp 49.6 percent fall in foreign exchange trading revenue, which slumped to Ksh1.18 billion ($9.11 million) from Ksh2.34 billion ($18.08 million). Also, customer deposits fell by 9.56 percent to Ksh495.67 billion ($3.84 billion) in Q1 2024, down from Ksh548.07 billion ($4.14 billion) a year earlier.

Gachora highlights resilient income, margin gains

Still, growth in fees and commissions provided some cushion, with income rising to Ksh3.1 billion ($24.01 million) from Ksh3.04 billion ($23.52 million). Group operating income also displayed a positive growth, climbing by 8.49 percent to reach Ksh17.33 billion ($134.12 million) compared to Ksh15.98 billion ($120.74 million) in the first quarter of 2024. 

John Gachora, the managing director of NCBA Group, credited the Group’s improved first-quarter performance to resilient core income streams, disciplined cost management, and recovery efforts that lifted asset quality. He said: “The profitability performance demonstrates underlying resilience in our core income streams, while strong recovery efforts improved our asset quality.” 

He concluded: “The Group remains effectively capitalized at 21.5 percent, with sufficient buffers providing the firepower to take advantage of opportunities for growth.”

NCBA Group: East African financial powerhouse

Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, NCBA Group operates as a non-operating holding company with subsidiaries in Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, and Côte d’Ivoire. Formed in 2019 via the merger of NIC Bank Group and Commercial Bank of Africa Group, NCBA has solidified its position as a major player in East Africa’s financial sector.

Total assets declined by 5.6 percent to Ksh655.97 billion ($5.08 billion) while retained earnings, on the other hand increased by 18.52 percent to Ksh83.2 billion ($643.74 million). Partially owned by prominent Kenyan families such as Kenyatta, Merali, and Ndegwa, the leading financial services conglomerate remains steadfast in strengthening operations within Kenya while expanding its footprint across the region.