{
  "id": 3038057,
  "title": "NBK profit jumps 61pc to Sh1.72bn despite lower interest income",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/nbk-profit-jumps-61pc-to-sh1-72bn-despite-lower-interest-income",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-08-24T13:53:32.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Capital Business",
    "slug": "capital-business",
    "url": "https://capitalfm.africa/nbk-profit-jumps-61pc-to-sh1-72bn-despite-lower-interest-income/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Nairobi, Kenya – National Bank of Kenya (NBK) reported a remarkable 60.5 percent surge in its net profit to Sh1.72 billion in the first half of 2026, despite a decline in interest income. Their profit after tax, meanwhile, rose from Sh1.07 billion in the same period last year, to Sh1.72 billion this year.\n\nInterest income for the period fell by 2.7 percent, settling at Sh7.2 billion from Sh7.4 billion a year earlier. This drop was attributed to lower earnings from loans and other interest-earning assets. Despite this, NBK broadened its lending activities, with net loans and advances expanding by a substantial 38.4 percent to Sh61.28 billion in the six months to June.\n\nThis growth in lending was supported by a rise in customer deposits by 16.1 percent, reaching Sh116.34 billion. The bank's larger funding base helped it manage the reduced interest income. NBK's performance is part of a recent trend of improving profitability for the bank. In 2025, the lender posted a full-year net profit of Sh2.39 billion, an increase from Sh1.06 billion in 2024.\n\nNBK has recently undergone a major change of ownership. The bank is now owned by Nigeria’s Access Bank, following its acquisition from KCB Group for approximately Sh13.2 billion. The transaction was approved by the Central Bank of Kenya and was completed in 2025, marking the end of KCB Group's six-year ownership of NBK, which began in 2019 as part of a strategic consolidation in Kenya's banking sector.",
  "summary": "Despite the decline in interest income, NBK expanded its lending significantly, with net loans and advances rising 38.4 percent to Sh61.28 billion.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}