Equity Group has reported a 17% growth in profit after tax for the first half of 2025, rising to Kshs.34.6 billion from Kshs.29.6 billion in a similar period in 2024
According to Equity Group, the performance was driven by a 9% increase in net interest income and an 18% drop in interest expenses. Total costs fell by 2%, aided by a 34% reduction in loan loss provisions.
The Group’s loan book grew by 4% to Kshs.825.1 billion despite a challenging global and regional economic environment marked by high interest rates, volatile exchange rates and inflation. Customer deposits rose by 2% to Kshs.1.32 trillion, while total assets increased by 3% to Kshs.1.8 trillion. The loan-to-deposit ratio stands at 62.5%, providing room for further lending, supported by strong capital buffers of 16.5% for core capital to risk-weighted assets and 18.1% for total capital to risk-weighted assets. The liquidity ratio remains healthy at 58.6%.
The lender posted its strongest quarterly performance in four years, with profits of Kshs.22.9 billion in Q2 2025 and Kshs.18.6 billion in Q1 2025, both well above the four-year quarterly average of Kshs.14.8 billion. This was achieved despite muted loan book growth, geopolitical uncertainty and ongoing transformation of its culture, governance, systems and customer value proposition.
Subsidiaries across the region recorded improved returns. Equity Bank Kenya saw its net interest margin rise to 7.5% from 6.5%, return on assets increase to 3.9% from 2.8% and return on equity jump to 28.1% from 25%. Equity Bank Tanzania’s net interest margin rose to 8.7%, return on assets to 4% and return on equity to 27%. In Uganda, return on assets climbed to 3.4% while return on equity improved to 25.1%. Equity EBCD posted a return on assets of 3.1% and return on equity of 23.5%, while Equity Bank Rwanda achieved the highest return on assets at 4.1% and a return on equity of 29.6%, alongside a cost-to-income ratio of 35.8%.
The results reflect the impact of a four-year transformation strategy that began with a bold self-disruption to overhaul governance, leadership, systems and culture. Equity shifted its purpose from financial inclusion to championing private-sector-led development financing, guided by the Africa Recovery and Resilience Plan (ARRP). The Group’s 2030 ambition is to operate in 15 countries and serve 100 million customers, a target anchored on scalable 4th industrial revolution technologies, customer-centric solutions, and segmented market strategies.
Commenting on the results, Equity Group Managing Director and CEO Dr. James Mwangi said, “The execution of the strategic business plan has started to reflect on the balance sheet and performance of the Group in agriculture, mining, manufacturing, trade and investment, and SMEs that populate the ecosystems of the formal sector in these value chains. Continued execution has resulted in transformation of the balance sheet structure and the resultant profit and loss structure creating resilience in performance.”
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