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I&M Bank half-year profit climbs 20pc to Sh9.3bn
I&M Group Regional CEO Kihara Maina (left) with I&M Chief Financial Officer David Ngata during the bank's release of the Half Year 2026 Financial Results at Norfolk Hotel on August 27, 2026.
I&M Group posted a 20.3percent growth in net profit to Sh9.31 billion in the half-year to June 2026, buoyed by increased interest and non-interest income.
The lender’s profit after tax and minority interest rose from Sh7.73 billion in the previous similar period, overtaking Standard Chartered Bank Kenya to the sixth-highest profit in the sector during the half-year. Standard Chartered dropped to seventh after its half-year profit fell 16.8 percent to Sh8.08 billion.
Equity Group emerged top in the review period after its net profit grew 32 percent to Sh43.7 billion, followed by KCB Group (Sh36.86 billion), Co-operative Bank of Kenya (Sh18.02 billion), NCBA (Sh12.5 billion) and Absa Bank Kenya (Sh10.5 billion).
I&M’s net interest income grew 22.5 percent to Sh25.03 billion while non-interest income rose 24.5 percent to Sh8.65 billion, taking its half-year operating income to Sh33.69 billion from Sh27.38 billion.
“Overall operating income grew strongly, supported by broad-based growth in both net interest income and non-interest income, reflecting continued business momentum and diversified revenue growth,” said the lender.
The lender said its subsidiaries contributed a third of the Sh13.13 billion pre-tax profit, up from a quarter in a similar period last year.
I&M Kenya’s pre-tax profit remained relatively flat at Sh8.3 billion from Sh8.2 billion as an 18 percent rise in revenue was offset by a 21 percent rise in operating expenses. The group’s bancassurance business in Kenya posted a 56 percent growth in pre-tax profit to Sh425 million.
“Bancassurance performance continues to gain traction, driven by sustained growth from the traditional client segment and increasing penetration of MSME market frontier,” said the lender.
Tanzania’s subsidiary returned a gross profit of Sh0.6 billion, an eight percent rise, while the Rwanda operations saw a 53 percent increase to Sh2.4 billion as income grew by nearly a third.
In Uganda, the I&M subsidiary saw its pre-tax profit rise 3.5 times to Sh0.7 billion from Sh0.2 billion. Over the same period, the Mauritius unit posted a three percent decline in pre-tax profit to Sh0.9 billion.
The lender’s operating expenses increased by 27.8 percent to Sh20.56 billion, which it attributed to continued branch expansion, brand visibility and staff capability. Staff costs rose by 23.8 percent to Sh5.91 billion, and loan provisioning rose by 37.7 percent to Sh5.59 billion.
The loan loss provisions rose despite the stock of non-performing loans falling to Sh30.1 billion from Sh34.36 billion.
The group’s asset base closed June at Sh746.31 billion, marking a 26.9 percent rise from Sh588.92 billion. The rise in assets came in the period when the loan book grew 14.8 percent to Sh333.81 billion.
I&M has continued to grow its deposit base, taking the figure to Sh505.16 billion at the end of June, marking a 17.6 percent rise from Sh429.37 billion. The lender said 48 percent of the amount is demand deposits while 43 percent is call deposits.
The group operates 73 branches in Kenya, 12 in Uganda and 20, nine and five in Rwanda, Tanzania and Mauritius, respectively.
I&M has been expanding its focus from corporate and commercial customers into retail and small and medium-sized enterprise lending, helping it to speed up its expansion.
The lender is now increasing its focus on areas such as oil and gas, public sector, leasing, and trade financing on the China corridor.
