A growing number of top company executives have bought into HF Group as they position themselves to benefit from the country’s fast-growing housing sector.
Regulatory filings show that more than seven executives rank among the top shareholders of the listed mortgage lender.
The executives include former managing director of M-Pesa Africa, Sitoyo Lopokoiyit, who is listed as the second-largest individual shareholder with 10,100,000 shares valued at Sh91.7 million, based on the counter’s trading price of Sh9.08 on Thursday, April 2.
Gerald Warui, recently appointed as a non-executive director at HF Group, holds 2,507,500 shares in the lender. Mr Warui worked at Equity Bank Kenya for more than 25 years, rising to managing director of its Kenyan unit before his exit in 2024.
Robert Kibaara, the bank’s chief executive for the past seven years, holds 3,016,262 shares valued at Sh27.3 million.
HF Group reported a 171 percent growth in net profit for the year ended December 2025 to Sh1.42 billion, up from Sh524 million a year earlier, driven by increased lending to the government.
The bank has been among the fastest-growing lenders in the country since raising Sh5.99 billion from shareholders through a rights issue in 2024.
Prior to the rights issue, the bank had struggled to grow due to thin capital adequacy ratios following erosion of its capital by losses posted between 2018 and 2021.
Dividend drought
HF Group is carrying accumulated losses of Sh1.1 billion, which has seen the lender go another year without paying a dividend.
The bank has not paid dividends for more than five years, with management citing resumption of payouts as a medium-term goal.
Despite the dividend drought, the counter has performed strongly at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, with the share price rising 32.7 percent over the past year, despite dilution from additional shares issued under the cash call.
HF was last year upgraded back to a mid-tier bank by the Central Bank of Kenya after growing its market share to over one percent.
More big names
Other professionals in HF’s share register include former Kenya Bankers Association chief executive and current Old Mutual Group chairman Habil Olaka, who holds one million shares.
Top executives are buying into HF Group as the mortgage lender attracts fresh investor interest.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
Peter Mwangi, former chief executive of the Nairobi Securities Exchange and UAP-Old Mutual, holds 6,638,072 shares, while David Mukuha of Naivas Supermarket has 2.5 million shares valued at Sh22.7 million.
Benson Wairegi, former chief executive of Britam Holdings, which is the largest shareholder of HF Group with a 48.2 percent stake, holds seven million shares.
Besides professionals, the counter has also attracted political figures, including Leader of Majority in the National Assembly Kimani Ichung’wah and former Kenya Revenue Authority chair Anthony Mwaura.
Mr Mwaura and his family are the second-largest shareholders of the bank with a 12.72 percent stake.
Mr Ichung’wah, Member of Parliament for Kikuyu constituency, holds 18,642,043 shares valued at Sh138.3 million.
He is the largest individual local investor in HF Group, holding the shares directly rather than through a company.
