Listed financial solutions provider, HF Group's, net earnings for the year to June more than doubled to Sh624.3 million, driven by a strong interest income mainly from lending and investment in securities.
This is up compared to the Sh266.3 million net profit reported during a similar period last year.
The Group’s banking subsidiary has officially been upgraded to a tier two bank, on the back of a growing market share and strengthened capital base.
The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) listed lender posted a 148 per cent growth in profit before tax reaching Sh703 million during the period under review, up from Sh283 million in half-year 2024, with all its operating subsidiaries delivered growth in profits.
The group posted an 18 per cent growth in non-funded income, which grew to Sh844 million, on the back of increased fees from its banking subsidiary’s custody business and the property subsidiary’s project management fees and commissions.
The group’s net interest income rose by 53 per cent to Sh2.04 billion, up compared to Sh 1.33 billion in the same period last year, with total operating income jumping 41 per cent to Sh2.89 billion from Sh2.05 billion.
HF Group CEO Robert Kibaara, while releasing the results on Tuesday, pegged the strong performance to the success of the group’s transformation and diversification strategy, which continues to drive growth across its subsidiaries.
“We remain focused on building a strong and resilient group that delivers sustainable value to stakeholders,” Kibaara said, further acknowledging the positive impact of the successful Rights Issue, which provided the impetus to accelerate business growth across select market segments.
Last year’s successful rights issue, oversubscribed by 38 per cent, enhanced capital position for HF Group, whose balance sheet grew by 21 per cent to Sh76.9 billion as of June this year.
The December rights issue saw shareholders offer the company Sh6.4 billion in the cash call whose proceeds were to be used to buffer its capital levels ahead of new rules requiring banks to raise their core capital.
The lender had offered 1.153 billion shares in the issue seeking Sh4.6 billion, but received applications for 1.596 billion units.The Group’s total deposits rose by 15 per cent to Sh52.5 billion in half-one 2025.
Interest-earning assets expanding by 25 per cent, an equivalent increase of Sh12.7billion as interest expenses dropped by seven per cent, an equivalent of Sh114million.
The upgraded
to a tier two bank follows a successful diversification strategy to full
service banking and expanded offerings in property and insurance, coupled with
a significantly enhanced capital position.
The upgrade reflects strong market confidence in the institution and affirms the Group’s capacity for sustained growth, management said.
HF Group commenced operations in November 1965 and has diversified from being a mortgage financier to a provider of integrated financial solutions with interests in banking, property and insurance.
The company restructured its business and rebranded in August 2015, transforming from the single entity Housing Finance, to the non-operating holding company, HF Group, with four subsidiaries including HFC, Housing Finance Development and Investment Limited (HFDI)-formerly Kenya Building Society Limited, , HF Bancassurance Intermediary (HFBI), and HF Foundation.
In February 2025, HF Group, was added to the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Frontier Markets Small Cap Index, which serves as key performance indicators for investors tracking emerging markets.
