Equity Group has emerged as the most profitable banking group in Kenya and the larger Eastern Africa region in the first quarter of the current financial year 2026. This is after the banking group returned a net profit of Sh18.33 billion. This was a growth of Sh3.53 billion from the Sh14.80 billion. This net profit was derived from a profit before tax of Sh24.52 billion, which was a growth of 31.2 percent from the Sh18.68 billion profit before tax that was recorded in the same period in the previous 2025 financial year.
An analysis by Bizna Kenya shows that Equity Group grew its net profit in the first quarter of the current financial year by 23.8 percent. In contrast, its closest rival KCB Group grew its net profit for the year by 10.7 percent. KCB Group posted a net profit of Sh17.82 billion from the Sh16.09 billion that it had posted in the same period the previous financial year. This net profit was derived from a profit before tax of Sh24.43 billion.
In the quarter under review, Equity’s balance sheet expanded by 16 percent to Sh2.04 trillion, reflecting sustained momentum across its markets. Customer deposits grew by 13 percent, while net loans increased by 9 percent, pointing to continued customer confidence and steady economic activity in the region. This performance was anchored on a growing customer base of 22.7 million, backed by a wide distribution network of 86,910 agency outlets and 1.4 million merchants.
In the same period, customer deposits increased by 12.6 percent to Sh1.48 trillion from the Sh1.314 trillion that was recorded in the same quarter the previous year. The banking group’s assets increased by 16.4 percent to cross the Sh2 trillion mark and settle at Sh2.036 trillion from the previous Sh1.749 that was recorded in the first quarter of 2025.
On share price at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, an analysis by Bizna Kenya shows that Equity Group closed the quarter at Sh69 per share. This means that since the end of the same first quarter in 2025 when the share had traded at Sh47.10, Equity shareholders have gained 46.5 percent in value.
This trend of growth and profitability marks a continuation of the trend that Equity Group established in the full financial year 2025. In that full year, net profit for the bank increased to a record Sh75.5 billion. This was the highest by a banking institution in the East and Central Africa. This net profit represented a 54.7 percent growth in profit. It was derived from a full year profit before tax of Sh90.8 billion which was a growth of 51.6 percent.
READ MORE: Inside Equity’s 2025 rise to most profitable bank in East and Central Africa
In the previous full year, Equity Group had seen its total assets increase by 9.2 percent to Sh1.97 trillion from the previous year’s total of Sh1.8 trillion. Meanwhile, customer deposits grew by 4.2 percent to Sh1.46 trillion from the previous Sh1.4 trillion while loans to customers increased by 7.7 percent to Sh882.5 billion. In full year 2024, total disbursed loans had stood at Sh819.2 billion. Net interest income increased by 17 percent to Sh126.9 billion while non-funded income increased by 7 percent to Sh90.8 billion.
