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Top Kenyan bank investors reap Sh5.75bn dividends
The record dividend payouts by most of Kenya’s listed banks will see top investors led by Equity Group chief executive James Mwangi and I&M Group director Suresh Shah earn a combined Sh5.75 billion.
The record dividend payouts by most of Kenya’s listed banks will see top investors led by Equity Group chief executive James Mwangi and I&M Group director Suresh Shah earn a combined Sh5.75 billion, entrenching their position as the market’s dividend kings.
Their earnings, comprising the interim and final dividends for the year ended December 2025, will rise by more than Sh1.1 billion from the prior year.
The dividend entitlements are based on the latest available disclosures on individual shareholding and cash distributions announced by the listed firms. Mr Mwangi will receive the single-largest payout of Sh734.9 million on his 127.8 million shares in Equity, which lifted its dividend payout in the review period to Sh5.75 per share after posting a 54.6 percent net profit growth to Sh71.9 billion.
The bank had declared a dividend of Sh4.25 per share in the previous year when his payout stood at Sh543.1 million.
The dividend highlights the rewards for leading the country’s most profitable lender. Mr Mwangi is a long-term shareholder and CEO of the bank in which he has received part of his compensation in shares under the employee share ownership plan (Esop).
Equity will pay 30.15 percent of its net income as dividends, meaning that the bank has the highest headroom among listed lenders to grow payouts to shareholders in the future.
I&M Group founder and director Shah will earn a dividend of Sh656 million after the lender raised its per share cash distribution to Sh3.75 from Sh3.
The Shah family will get a combined payout of Sh936.3 million after adding the dividends accruing to Sarit Shah and Sachit Shah, who will get about Sh140 million each.
I&M has been raising its dividends –in absolute terms and as a share of earnings— in recent years.
The Shahs remain actively engaged in the management of the bank, which has raised additional capital from institutional investors to grow in the East African region.
NCBA Group chairman James Ndegwa will earn a dividend of Sh543.1 million on his 76.5 million shares after the lender increased its payout per share to a new high of Sh7.1 from Sh5.5.
His brother Andrew Ndegwa, who is also a director of NCBA, will receive a dividend of Sh550.9 million on his 77.6 million shares.
The larger Philip Ndegwa clan, whose interests are housed under the investment vehicle First Chartered Securities Limited, will get a total of Sh1.74 billion on their combined 246.1 million shares.
Their payout at NCBA will be followed by that of the Jomo Kenyatta family, which will earn Sh1.54 billion on their 217.4 million shares held through Enke Investments Limited.
The top shareholders of NCBA are expected to switch most of their stakes in the firm into shares in South Africa’s Nedbank Group, which has made an offer to acquire a 66 percent interest in the Kenyan banking multinational.
Nedbank’s offer, comprising a payment of 20 percent in cash and 80 percent in its shares, has received the backing of the major shareholders of NCBA, which will remain listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, with minority investors holding a 34 percent stake.
Billionaire investor Baloobhai Patel will pocket a total of Sh455.1 million on his significant ownership in Co-operative Bank of Kenya and Absa Bank Kenya.
Mr Patel’s 100 million shares in Co-op Bank will earn him Sh250 million after the lender raised its dividend per share by 67 percent to Sh2.5 from Sh1.5.
He will also pocket Sh205.1 million from his 100 million shares in Absa, which also lifted its dividend per share by 17.1 percent to Sh2.05 from Sh1.75.
Co-op Bank’s chief executive officer, Gideon Muriuki, will earn Sh337.5 million on his 135 million shares in the bank, which represents a 2.3 percent stake.
Mr Muriuki bought additional shares in the bank last year, entrenching his position as the top individual shareholder and signalling his commitment to the firm he has led since 2001.
Co-op Bank has been the most reliable dividend payer among the Kenyan listed banks, distinguishing itself as the only institution that maintained payouts to shareholders in the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic when other lenders suspended or cut their cash distributions.
The dividends earned by the top investors highlight the banking sector as the most lucrative on the NSE ahead of telecoms, which has a single firm –Safaricom.
The top nine listed banks, which are also the largest in the country, will pay a total dividend of Sh111.2 billion for the year ended December 2025.
This marks an increase of Sh26.7 billion from the Sh84.5 billion paid for the prior year. Standard Chartered Bank Kenya was the only lender to cut its payout by Sh5.29 billion to Sh11.7 billion (Sh31 per share) after its net income fell 38 percent to Sh12.4 billion on higher costs and lower income from lending and transactions.
Stanchart’s payout, however, amounted to 94.2 percent of its net profit, showing the bank’s commitment to dividend payouts.
KCB Group, Co-op Bank, and Equity had the biggest jump in dividends, with the institutions raising their payouts by Sh12.85 billion, Sh5.86 billion and Sh5.6 billion, respectively.
The big banks have benefitted from economic growth in the East African region and a rise in customer numbers, all of which have driven demand for credit and various services, including payments and forex trading.
