Standard Chartered Bank Kenya posted a 38.0% decline in net profit to KSh 12.44 Bn for the year ended 31 December 2025, as falling interest rates and a normalising shilling compressed revenues.
- •A KSh 2.6 Bn one-off pension charge from a 16-year legal dispute with 629 former employees added to the cost burden.
- •Despite the drop, the result ranks as the third-highest profit in the bank's history, behind FY2024 (20.06 Bn) and FY2023 (13.84 Bn).
- •The board proposed a final ordinary dividend of KSh 23.00 per share, bringing total declared dividends for the year to KSh 31.00 (FY2024: KSh 45.00).
Total operating income fell 16.5% to KSh 42.30 Bn, broadly in line with FY2023 levels (KSh 41.73 Bn), confirming that the FY2024 result was amplified by exceptional forex conditions rather than a new earnings baseline.
Net interest income, the bank's largest revenue source, dropped 13.2% to KSh 28.89 Bn as interest on loans and advances declined 25.9% to KSh 16.92 Bn under the weight of Kenya's declining rate environment. The bank said it partially mitigated the margin compression by reducing expensive deposits and growing government securities income, which rose 14.3% to KSh 11.15 Bn on volume expansion. The government securities portfolio closed at 96.90 Bn, near the FY2024 level of KSh 98.00 Bn and well above the 63.83 Bn held at end-2023. Interest expenses fell 29.1% to KSh 3.94 Bn.
Non-interest income fell 23.0% to 13.41 Bn. Foreign exchange trading income collapsed 58.6% to KSh 3.42 Bn from KSh 8.27 Bn as the shilling's stabilization through 2025 unwound the forex tailwind that had inflated FY2024 revenues. The bank attributed the broader decline to lower transactional volumes and margins in Transaction Services and Markets, partially offset by growth in Wealth Solutions. Assets under management closed at KSh 302 Bn, up 29% year on year.
| Metric | FY2025 | FY2024 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Interest Income | 32.83 Bn | 38.82 Bn | ▼-15.4% |
| Net Interest Income | 28.89 Bn | 33.27 Bn | ▼-13.2% |
| Non-Interest Income | 13.41 Bn | 17.41 Bn | ▼-23.0% |
| Total Operating Income | 42.30 Bn | 50.68 Bn | ▼-16.5% |
| Operating Expenses (Reported) | 25.47 Bn | 22.47 Bn | ▲+13.3% |
| Loan Loss Provision | 1.99 Bn | 2.38 Bn | ▼-16.3% |
| Profit Before Tax | 16.84 Bn | 28.21 Bn | ▼-40.3% |
| Profit After Tax | 12.44 Bn | 20.06 Bn | ▼-38.0% |
| Total Assets | 363.49 Bn | 384.57 Bn | ▼-5.5% |
| Net Loans and Advances | 154.31 Bn | 151.65 Bn | ▲+1.8% |
| Customer Deposits | 283.45 Bn | 295.69 Bn | ▼-4.1% |
| Shareholders' Equity | 66.32 Bn | 71.78 Bn | ▼-7.6% |
| Cost-to-Income Ratio | 60.2% | 44.3% | ▲+15.9pp |
| EPS (Basic & Diluted) | 32.47 | 52.65 | ▼-38.3% |
| DPS Declared | 31.00 | 45.00 | ▼-31.1% |
Reported operating expenses rose 13.3% to 25.47 Bn, but the bank said underlying expenses grew 4%, with the difference driven by a one-off employee past service cost of 2.6 Bn.
- •The charge stems from a pension dispute dating back to 2009 in which 629 former employees challenged the computation of their retirement benefits.
- •The case, which involved claims of underpaid lump sums, missing cost-of-living adjustments, and withheld housing allowances, was decided by the Retirement Benefits Appeals Tribunal in 2022 and upheld through every court level up to the Supreme Court, which dismissed the bank's final appeal in September 2025.
- •The total estimated obligation is approximately KSh 7 Bn, of which KSh 2.6 Bn was recognised as a past service cost in FY2025. Staff costs surged 23.7% to KSh 11.20 Bn while other operating expenses climbed 14.5% to 10.19 Bn.
The reported cost-to-income ratio deteriorated to 60.2% from 44.3%. Stripping out the pension charge, the underlying ratio would sit closer to 54%, within the bank's historical range.
Loan loss provisions declined 16.3% to KSh 1.99 Bn, the lowest level since FY2019 (0.57 Bn excluding the pandemic spike). The non-performing loan ratio improved by 200 basis points to 5.4%, with gross NPLs falling 26.5% to KSh 8.83 Bn from a peak of KSh 23.28 Bn in FY2021.
On the balance sheet, total assets contracted 5.5% to KSh 363.49 Bn, continuing a decline from the FY2023 peak of KSh 428.96 Bn. Customer deposits fell 4.1% to KSh 283.45 Bn, though current and savings accounts made up 97% of the deposit base. Net loans edged up 1.8% to KSh 154.31 Bn, with growth in Corporate Finance and Wealth Solutions offset by declines in Transaction Services, Personal Loans and Mortgages.
Cash and cash equivalents halved to 35.68 Bn from KSh 72.66 Bn. The financing outflow of KSh 17.52 Bn was driven largely by the FY2024 final ordinary dividend of KSh 13.98 Bn, which at 36.75 per share was the largest single dividend payment in the bank's history, paid during the year.
The payout ratio reached a record 95%, and the distribution extends a dividend streak spanning at least 38 consecutive years. The FY2025 DPS of KSh 31.00 is the second-highest in the bank's history, behind FY2024.
Core capital adequacy stood at 20.36% against a statutory minimum of 10.50%. The liquidity coverage ratio closed at 300% and the net stable funding ratio at 155%, both well above the 100% regulatory threshold.
Outgoing Managing Director Kariuki Ngari will hand leadership to Birju Sanghrajka.
