Stanbic Bank Kenya Q1 Profit Rises To KES 3.5 billion

Stanbic Bank Kenya has officially kickstarted the corporate earnings season by reporting a 5.5% growth in net profit to KES 3.52 billion for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026, up from KES 3.33 billion in Q1 2025.

Key Financial HighlightsCore Earnings Growth: Net interest income increased by 11.7% to KES 7.57 billion. This offset margin compressions caused by consecutive Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) policy rate cuts.Balance Sheet Expansion: Total assets grew by 22.6%, breaching the half-trillion mark to reach KES 551.7 billion.Milestone Deposits: Customer deposits crossed the KES 400 billion mark for the first time, jumping 21.7% to KES 411.0 billion.

Loan Book: Net loans and advances expanded by 5.8% year-on-year to KES 258.2 billion, driven heavily by foreign currency lending.Strategic Drivers and HeadwindsRisk and Cost Management: Profit before tax actually surged 20.5% to KES 4.92 billion. This was supported by a 7.8% drop in operating expenses and a 59.1% reduction in loan loss provisions (down to KES 350.2 million).Tax Drags: The gap between the high pre-tax growth and modest net profit was caused by a heavy tax bill, which nearly doubled to KES 1.4 billion from KES 751 million last year.

Non-Interest Income Drop: Non-funded income dropped by 13.8% to KES 2.38 billion, heavily impacted by an 83% collapse in foreign exchange trading revenues amid a stabilizing Kenyan Shilling.Shareholder Returns: Earnings per share (EPS) improved to KES 20.61 from KES 19.54 in the previous year.