Standard Chartered Bank Kenya reported an after-tax profit of KES 12.4 billion in FY2025, representing a 38% decline from KES 20.1 billion recorded in FY2024. The drop was driven by weaker income, higher operating expenses, and a one-off cost of KES 2.6 billion related to the pension arrears case.
The lender’s total operating income declined 16.5% year-on-year to KES 42.3 billion, primarily due to declines in both net interest income and non-interest income. Net interest income fell 13.2% on account of declining interest rates. During the review period the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) cut its policy rate by 225 bps to 9.0% in December 2025. The decline in net interest income was partly cushioned by lower funding costs on customer deposits and increased interest income from government securities.
Non-interest income decreased by 23.0% to KES 13.4 billion, driven by a decline in volume of transactions and margins in transaction services and markets However, growth in the bank’s wealth solutions business helped moderate the decline. Foreign exchange trading income fell by a whopping 141.7% to KES 3.4 billion, resulting in downward pressure on overall non-interest income in the period under review.
Underlying expenses grew by 4%, while total operating expenses rose 13.3% to KES 25.5 billion. Standard Chartered Bank incurred a one-off employee past service cost of KES 2.6 billion in linked to the pension case.
Consequently, the bank’s pre-tax profit declined by 40.3% to KES 16.8 billion, while net income plunged 38% to KES 12.4 billion.
Balance Sheet Dynamics
Standard Chartered Bank’s asset base shrank 5.5% to KES 363.5 billion, whereas shareholders’ equity stood at KES 66.3 billion, down 7.6% year-on-year. Customer deposits reduced by 4.1% to KES 283.5 billion, while loans and advances inched up 1.8% to KES 154.3 billion, signaling modest loan uptake. Loans as a share of the asset base was 42.5%. up from 39.4% in FY 2024, while the stock of government securities on the balance sheet accounted rose from 25.7% in FY 2024 to 29.5% in FY 2025. The deposit base accounted for 76.9% of assets in FY 2024, and this proportion rose to 77.9% in FY 2025. The loan-to-deposit ratio rose to 54% from 51% in FY2024.
Asset Quality and Liquidity
Gross non-performing loans edged lower by 27% to KES 8.8 billion, reflecting improved asset quality. Non-performing loan ratio improving by 200bps to close at 5.4%. The bank’s liquidity ratio ratio stood at 64.4%, more than three times the CBK’s statutory minimum requirement of 20%.
Standard Chartered Bank Continued Payout
Despite the net income dip, StanChart Board of Directors recommended a generous final dividend of KES 23.00 per ordinary share. Combined with an interim dividend of KES 8.00 per share paid earlier, the total dividend for the year amounts to KES 31.00 per share compared to KES 45.00 per share in FY2024, translating to a payout ratio of 95.5%.
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