NCBA Group Q1 Profit Grows Marginally Despite Drop in Customer Deposits
NCBA Group PLC has posted a profit after tax of Ksh5.5 billion in its Q1 2025 financial results which is a 3% increase from to Ksh5.3 billion reported during a similar period in 2024.
NCBA Group Managing Director, John Gachora said the performance demonstrates underlying resilience in its core income streams, while strong recovery efforts improved asset quality. “The contraction in customer deposits and assets was driven by strategic initiatives focused on optimizing funding costs and enhancing asset allocation efficiency,” he said.
“Consequently, the effective cost of funds management has improved our net interest margin to 6.1 per cent up from 5.0 per cent over the same period last year,” Mr Gachora said. “To strengthen our financial resilience, we increased our impairment coverage to 63 per cent, while maintaining a healthy Non-performing loan (NPL) ratio of 11.9 per cent. Our focus on improved credit led to a lower cost of risk at 1 per cent. The Group remains effectively capitalized at 21.5 per cent with sufficient buffers providing the Group the firepower to take advantage of opportunities for growth.”
NCBAGroup’s business diversification played a pivotal role where NCBA Bank Kenya remained a key driver contributing 79 per cent of the Group’s Ksh6.8 billion profit before tax. Regional banking subsidiaries delivered profit before tax of Ksh1.1billion, contributing a solid 16 per cent to the Group’s overall profitability and underscoring their growing strategic importance. The Non-Banking subsidiaries delivered a consolidated positive profit of KES 328 million, contributing 5 per cent to Group profitability.
During the quarter, NCBA completed the integration of the recently acquired AIG (Kenya) Insurance Company when it unveiled a new brand identity for the now NCBA Insurance subsidiary, reinforcing its commitment to seize share in Kenya’s sizeable insurance industry valued at KES 309 billion.The re-brand will ensure more competitiveness with amplified positioning in the market as a trusted insurance solutions partner.
Looking ahead, Mr. Gachora commented: “According to the latest Government of Kenya economic update, while there is heightened uncertainty on the Global economy projected to grow at 2.8 per cent in 2025 from the earlier projection of 3.3 per cent, the Kenyan economy continues to demonstrate resilience with the easing of monetary policy which will hopefully translate to improved private sector lending and consumer confidence.”
