John Gachora, NCBA Group Managing Director
NCBA Group PLC has posted a profit after tax of KES 16.4 billion for the third quarter of 2025, marking an 8.5 per cent rise from KES 15.1 billion recorded during the same period last year.
While the financial performance remained robust, the Group’s standout highlight was its continued investment in Kenya’s creative economy through its flagship youth empowerment programme, Change The Story.
The initiative, launched to build mentorship, skills development and long-term sustainability for young creatives, has become a central pillar of NCBA’s broader social impact agenda.
As part of this commitment, NCBA partnered with celebrated music producer Motif-Di-Don on his Elev8 LIVE platform, an initiative designed to discover, onboard and elevate new musical artists across the country.
Serving as NCBA’s pilot entry into the creative economy, an industry contributing 5.3 per cent to Kenya’s GDP, valued at USD 110 billion, and supporting over 300,000 creative entrepreneurs, Elev8 LIVE aims to bridge long-standing gaps such as limited access to finance, inadequate financial literacy and minimal institutional support for emerging artists.
NCBA says the collaboration lays the groundwork for developing tailored financial solutions that meet the unique needs of young creatives, from project funding and digital earnings management to intellectual property monetization.
Strong Financial Performance in Q3 2025
The Group’s Q3 results reflected sustained profitability across key business lines:
Profit before tax: KES 20.5 billion, up 11.1% year-on-year
Profit after tax: KES 16.4 billion, up 8.5% year-on-year
Operating income: KES 53.4 billion, up 13.8%
Digital loans: KES 1 trillion disbursed, a 35% increase
Provision for credit losses: KES 5.1 billion, up 24.5%
Customer deposits: KES 488 billion, down 5.3%
Total assets: KES 665 billion, down 2%
Group Managing Director John Gachora attributed the strong performance to prudent cost management, better asset quality and disciplined recovery efforts across regional subsidiaries. “Our profitability was driven by prudent cost of funding management and better asset quality,” he said, noting that NCBA maintained a resilient NPL coverage of 68.9%.
He added that the Kenya bank subsidiary remained the key earnings driver, providing 82% of Group pre-tax profit, while regional subsidiaries contributed KES 2.6 billion, representing 12.5% of Group PBT.
Non-banking subsidiaries, including NCBA Bancassurance, Investment Bank, Leasing and NCBA Insurance, delivered a combined PBT growth of 48% to hit KES 1.2 billion.
Creatives at the Centre of Future Growth
Beyond financial metrics, Gachora emphasized NCBA’s commitment to empowering the youth and reshaping Kenya’s creative landscape through Change The Story.
He highlighted that nurturing the creative economy is central to the Group’s long-term vision for inclusive economic participation.
“This initiative underlines NCBA’s vision to bridge crucial gaps, such as access to finance
and financial literacy, that have long challenged artists and creative enterprises.” said Gachora
The programme’s focus on mentorship, exposure and financial capability training seeks to address long-standing structural barriers that have limited the growth of young creatives, positioning NCBA as one of the first banks in East Africa to meaningfully invest in the creative economy as a strategic growth frontier.
Looking Forward
Looking ahead, Mr. Gachora noted.
“Overall, the business environment across the region is expected to remain relatively
steady with sustained strong policy management to enable resilient credit growth.
According to group in-house projections for Kenya specifically, NCBA is expecting overall
output to close at 5.0 per cent in 2025, slightly up from our forecast of 4.8 per cent last
year.
“Following this improved momentum, we see economic growth closing at 5.1 per
cent in 2026.” said Gachora
The group pledge to focus on disciplined balance sheet management
and prudent risk practices to ensure sustainable long-term growth.
“The Group remain adequately capitalized to fuel new opportunities, our strategic business diversificationenhances our ability to adapt to evolving market conditions and our 3,900+ staff
members remain committed to serve customers with excellence.” he added