By The Weekly Vision Business Desk
Kenya’s listed banks posted a mixed half-year performance in 2026, with Equity Group emerging as the most profitable and diversified lender while HF Group (HFCB) trailed the pack on nearly every key metric, according to a sector-wide review by Abojani Investment covering the ten Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE)-listed banks.
The review, based on the banks’ half-year financial disclosures, offers investors and depositors a comparative snapshot of asset quality, efficiency and profitability across Equity Bank, KCB Group, Co-operative Bank, NCBA, Absa Kenya, I&M, Standard Chartered Bank (SCBK), Stanbic, DTB and Family Bank.
Equity Group recorded the highest total operating income in the sector, at KSh 124.9 billion, alongside a profit after tax of KSh 45.5 billion, the best in the peer group. Its profit attributable to shareholders stood at KSh 43.8 billion, while non-funded income made up 45 per cent of total income, the highest proportion recorded in the review. The figure underscores a well-diversified revenue base spanning digital banking, insurance and regional subsidiaries. The lender also posted total assets of KSh 2,155.5 billion, the second-largest in the sector after KCB.
KCB Group remained the largest bank in the country by asset base and shareholders’ funds, with total assets of KSh 2,299.4 billion and equity attributable to shareholders of KSh 357.0 billion, both the highest figures in the review. The lender’s scale continues to give it an edge in balance-sheet-driven lending, though its cost-to-income ratio of 44.4 per cent trailed Absa’s more efficient showing.
Absa Kenya posted the lowest cost-to-income ratio in the sector, at 41.2 per cent, earning it the “most efficient” tag in the review. The bank also recorded the highest loan-to-deposit ratio, at 86.7 per cent, suggesting a more aggressive deployment of deposits into interest-earning assets relative to its peers.
Diamond Trust Bank (DTB) emerged as the cheapest lender in the sector on a book value basis, with a price-to-book ratio of 0.4, well below its peers. Analysts typically read a sub-1.0 price-to-book ratio as a sign that the market is pricing a stock below its net asset value, which could signal either undervaluation or lingering investor caution over asset quality.
HF Group Trails the Sector
HF Group posted the weakest results in the review. Its total assets of KSh 94.0 billion and shareholders’ equity of KSh 18.2 billion were the smallest in the sector, while its profit after tax of KSh 1.0 billion was the lowest recorded. The lender also carried the highest cost-to-income ratio, at 60.6 per cent, pointing to comparatively weaker operating efficiency, alongside the smallest interest and operating income figures among the ten banks reviewed.
For investors, the review points to a widening gap between Kenya’s largest, most diversified lenders, Equity and KCB, and smaller players such as HFCB, which continue to struggle with scale and efficiency. Absa’s efficiency lead and DTB’s depressed valuation may draw attention from value-focused investors, while sector-wide non-performing loans, led by KCB’s KSh 203.8 billion book, remain a watch point for asset quality across the industry.
