Diamond Trust Bank Kenya gas reported net profit of KSh 10.7 Bn for the year ended 31 December 2025, a 21.4% increase from KSh 8.8Bn a year earlier and the lender's strongest annual earnings growth since 2021.
- •The results were driven by a sharp contraction in funding costs with total interest expenses falling 16.3% to KSh 26.1 Bn, even as the balance sheet expanded 14.8% to KSh 659.1 Bn and customer deposits crossed the half-trillion mark for the first time, closing at KSh 509.1 Bn.
- •Net interest income surged 24.1% to KSh 34.9 Bn, the fastest growth rate on this line since 2016 when the interest rate cap regime compressed the sector's earnings base.
- •The FY2025 results cap a quarter-century transformation from a niche franchise with KSh 6.4 Bn in assets and KSh 207 Mn in annual profit (2000) to a Tier 1 regional banking group generating KSh 10.7 Bn in profit on a KSh 659 Bn balance sheet.
Group CEO Nasim Devji attributed the performance to disciplined cost management and a sustained expansion of the customer franchise, which grew to 4.5 million across East Africa from 3.1 million a year earlier. "We have delivered quality growth while maintaining strong discipline and enhancing operational efficiency," Devji said.
The lender's total interest income grew a more modest 2.8% to KSh 61.0 Billion. Loan interest rose 3.7% to KSh 33.4 Bn on a 13.6% expansion in the net loan book to KSh 324.2 Bn, while government securities income fell 5.6% to KSh 24.2 Bn. Non-interest income declined 9.1% to KSh 11.8 Bn, weighed by a near-halving of foreign exchange trading income to KSh 2.3 Bn from KSh 4.7 Bn as currency volatility normalised from the elevated levels of 2023 and 2024.
Total operating expenses rose 9.4% to KSh 32.7 Bn, slower than the 13.7% growth in operating income, improving the cost-to-income ratio to 70.1% from 72.8%. Loan loss provisions increased 14.6% to KSh 10.0 Bn, though gross non-performing loans held virtually flat at KSh 37.7 Bn. The NPL ratio declined to 10.8% from 12.3% as the performing loan book outgrew impaired assets.
DTB's Expansion
DTB completed the disposal of its Burundi subsidiary to a consortium of local investors on 31 December 2025, recording a KSh 533 Mn loss from discontinued operations. The 2024 Group comparatives have been restated to separate the Burundi business from continuing operations.
Total shareholders' equity crossed KSh 100 Bn for the first time, closing at KSh 113.0 Bn. Core capital adequacy stood at 15.5% against a regulatory minimum of 10.5%, while the liquidity ratio improved to 54.6% from 49.9%.
Customer deposits have grown over 100-fold from KSh 4.8 Bn to KSh 509.1 Bn. The loan book has expanded from KSh 2.9 Bn to KSh 324.2 Bn.
The growth has not been linear. DTB's earnings peaked in absolute terms during the pre-rate-cap era (PAT of KSh 7.7 Bn in 2016), then contracted sharply after the September 2016 interest rate cap compressed margins across the sector. Profit did not recover to 2016 levels until 2019 (KSh 7.3 Bn), only to be hit again by COVID-19 provisioning in 2020 and 2021. The current earnings cycle, which began in 2022, has now carried PAT to a new all-time high.
Earnings per share have followed a similar arc: from KSh 2.60 in 2000 to a pre-cap peak of KSh 26.94 in 2016, a trough of KSh 11.61 in 2020, and a new record of KSh 33.65 in 2025. The dividend has risen from KSh 0.80 in 2000 to KSh 9.00, though the payout was suspended entirely in 2021 during the pandemic.
Asset quality has been the persistent challenge. Gross NPLs rose from under KSh 1 Bn prior to 2014 to a peak of KSh 43.6 Bn in 2023, driven by large corporate exposures and the economic disruption of 2020 to 2022. The subsequent decline to KSh 37.7 Bn, alongside strengthened provisioning coverage, represents progress, but NPLs remain elevated relative to the pre-2015 era when the ratio sat consistently below 3%.
The board recommended a final dividend of KSh 9.00 per share, up 28.6% from KSh 7.00, payable from 26 June 2026 to shareholders on the register at the close of business on 22 May 2026.
