Equity Group Holdings, one of the biggest commercial banks in East Africa, has reported a sharp rise in profit for the first half of 2026, driven by strong performance across its regional subsidiaries, its insurance business, and its digital banking channels.
The bank reported profit after tax of KSh 45.5 billion ($351.3 million) for the six months to June 2026, up from KSh34.6 billion ($267.2 million) a year earlier.
Profit Before Tax rose 39% to KSh 57.8 billion ($446.3 million), from KSh 41.5 billion ($320.4 million), as the bank’s balance sheet, deposit base and loan book all expanded at double-digit rates.
Equity’s Kenyan business, its largest and original market, showed clear signs of recovery, with profit rising sharply and loan growth returning to double digits on a quarterly basis for the first time in several years.
The unit also remained the leading lender to small and medium-sized businesses in Kenya, a segment the bank has long prioritized as a driver of economic development. Outside Kenya, the group’s subsidiaries in Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda posted even faster profit growth than Equity Kenya.
This is a significant shift for the bank: its regional units, once a smaller part of the business, now account for roughly half of the group’s overall revenue, deposits, and loans, and a similarly large share of its profits.
That balance illustrates how central the group’s expansion beyond Kenya has become to its overall strategy and financial health.
FEES AND INSURANCE ADD TO INTEREST INCOME
While income from lending grew steadily, the faster-growing part of the business was fee-based income – money the bank earns from services such as transactions, digital payments and advisory work, rather than from interest on loans.
This non-interest income now makes up close to half of the group’s total revenue, a sign that Equity is becoming less dependent on traditional lending margins. The group’s insurance arm also contributed meaningfully, with premium income and profit both growing at a healthy pace.
Most insurance policies were sold through digital channels, reinforcing a broader theme in the results: technology increasingly underpins how Equity reaches and serves its customers.
STRONGER BALANCE SHEET, FEWER BAD LOANS
The bank also reported improvements in the quality of its loan book, with the share of non-performing loans falling to a single-digit percentage for the first time in this reporting cycle.
The group’s nonperforming loan ratio fell to 9.5 per cent from 13.7 per cent, while NPL coverage rose to 70 per cent from 68 per cent. Costs relative to income improved as well, meaning the bank is generating more revenue for every shilling it spends to run its operations.
Group Chief Executive Dr James Mwangi credited the results to favourable economic conditions across the East and Central African region.
“The Group’s performance is unfolding against a backdrop of resilient regional economic growth. Kenya is projected to expand by 4.5 per cent -5 per cent, the Democratic Republic of Congo by 5.6 per cent, Tanzania by 5.9 per cent, Uganda by 6.4 per cent, Rwanda by 6.8 per cent, and South Sudan by 20 per cent.
These growth rates are supported by firm commodity prices and policy reforms and are expected to sustain, making the region where we operate one of the fastest growing regions in the world,” he said.
Equity said digital channels now handle the vast majority of its transactions, a shift that has allowed it to serve millions of customers well beyond its physical branch network.
Looking ahead, the group is targeting a significant expansion of its footprint and customer base by 2030, betting that continued investment in technology and regional diversification will sustain its growth.