Kenya's Co-op Bank nine-month profit rises 27.2% to KSh27.4 billion

Co-operative Bank of Kenya (Co-op Bank) made a profit after tax of KSh27.4 billion (about US$211 million) in the nine months to 30 September 2026, up 27.2% from KSh21.6 billion a year earlier, and declared an interim dividend of KSh1.50 a share.

The bank announced the results on 11 November 2026, as reported by the Kenyan outlets Capital FM, Citizen Digital and Kenyans.co.ke. Profit before tax rose 19.6% to KSh35.9 billion (about US$276 million) from KSh30.0 billion. The dollar figures use the Central Bank of Kenya rate of KSh129.96 to the dollar at the close of the week to 6 November 2026.

The interim dividend is 50% above the KSh1 paid for the same period last year. Shareholders on the register by 25 November will receive it on 4 December. Group Managing Director and CEO Gideon Muriuki said, as quoted by Kenyans.co.ke: "With the strong performance, the Board has approved an Interim dividend of Ksh1.50 per share."

Total operating income grew 11.6% to KSh75.2 billion. Net interest income, the gap between what the bank earns on loans and securities and what it pays on deposits, rose 12.7% to KSh51 billion. Operating costs rose 5.3%, more slowly than operating income, and the cost-to-income ratio before provisions was 46.4%, according to Citizen Digital.

The balance sheet grew faster on the lending side. Net loans and advances rose 22.2% to KSh496.9 billion. Customer deposits rose 14.8% to KSh642.5 billion, and total assets rose 11.3% to KSh907.4 billion from KSh815.3 billion. Holdings of government securities stood at KSh271.1 billion.

Bad loans fell. The ratio of non-performing loans, which are loans on which borrowers have stopped paying, dropped to 12.9% from 17.1% in September 2025. The bank's cost of risk, its charge for expected loan losses, fell to 1.4% from 2.5%, and coverage of loan losses under the IFRS accounting standard rose to 82.2% from 70.4%.

The bank's digital credit platform disbursed KSh66.6 billion in the third quarter, taking cumulative disbursements above KSh568.5 billion across 16.2 million customer accounts. About 94% of customer transactions went through alternative delivery channels. The bank has 16,215 Co-op Kwa Jirani agents and 600 ATMs.

Its youth proposition, "Ignite", has disbursed KSh47.5 billion to more than 585,000 young entrepreneurs and customers.

Subsidiaries reported the following profit before tax for the nine months. Kingdom Bank made KSh1.33 billion, up 61.8%. Co-optrust Investment Services made KSh966.8 million, up 54.8%, and manages funds of KSh508.8 billion. Co-operative Bank of South Sudan made KSh528 million, against KSh93.5 million a year earlier. Co-op Bancassurance Intermediary made KSh1.39 billion and Kingdom Securities KSh104.5 million.

Muriuki linked the results to the bank's "2025-2029 Good to Great Strategy" and its "Soaring Eagle Transformation Agenda".