I&M Group PLC closed 2025 in strong shape. The Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed banking group posted a profit before tax of KES 24.2 billion for the full year ended December 31, 2025 — a 22% jump from KES 19.8 billion the year before. Profit after tax grew 24% to KES 19.8 billion. For a bank that has been methodically expanding across East Africa and deepening its digital footprint, the numbers reflect a strategy that is beginning to pay out at scale.
The headline figures are clean. Total operating revenue rose 19% to KES 60.3 billion. Net interest income — the bread-and-butter of banking, earned from the spread between what a bank charges on loans and pays on deposits — grew 16% to KES 46 billion. Non-interest income, which covers fees, commissions, foreign exchange trading, and insurance, grew even faster: 31%, reaching KES 14.4 billion. That non-interest line growing faster than interest income is the kind of thing bankers celebrate; it signals genuine revenue diversification rather than a bank relying solely on lending margins.
The group’s total asset base crossed KES 668.9 billion, up 15% year-on-year. Customer deposits grew 17% to KES 484 billion, and net loans and advances increased 7% to KES 306 billion. More deposits than loans might raise eyebrows — but in Kenya’s current environment, where the Central Bank Rate has been falling steadily, banks are being selective about where they extend credit. The strategy appears cautious and deliberate rather than passive.
The Digital Number That Stands Out
Perhaps the most striking figure in the entire results package is a single operational statistic: 98% of I&M Group’s transacting customers are now using digital channels. That is an extraordinary penetration rate for a Tier 1 commercial bank with a broad retail customer base. For context, I&M Bank Kenya opened nine new branches in early 2025 as part of its iMara 3.0 branch expansion strategy — so the bank is not retreating from physical presence. The fact that digital adoption sits this high while branch expansion continues suggests customers are using both, with digital handling everyday transactions and branches reserved for more complex needs.
The Group also launched I&M FX Direct and upgraded its OTG platform during the year, tools primarily aimed at simplifying foreign currency transactions — a critical service for Kenya’s importers, exporters, and diaspora customers.
Wealth Management: The Sleeper Story
Buried in the press release is a number worth pausing on: Assets Under Management in the group’s Bancassurance and Wealth Management business grew 223% to KES 99 billion. To put that in perspective, if you started with KES 30 billion and added KES 69 billion in a single year, that is the rough order of magnitude implied here. That kind of growth does not come from organic investing alone; it likely reflects a significant influx of new mandates and client onboarding, potentially from corporate and high-net-worth clients who are increasingly looking beyond simple savings accounts.
I&M Bancassurance Intermediary Limited, the group’s insurance unit, also recorded growth in underwritten premiums — rising from KES 2.8 billion in 2024 to KES 4.7 billion in 2025. Commission and interest income from that unit grew 20% to KES 549 million. These are no longer rounding errors on the balance sheet; the non-banking businesses are becoming material contributors to the group’s earnings.
Kenya Anchors, the Region Accelerates
I&M Bank Kenya — the group’s largest and oldest business — recorded a 29% rise in profit before tax to KES 17.4 billion, up from KES 13.5 billion in 2024. Total operating income at the Kenya bank grew 22% to KES 40.4 billion. Asset quality also improved: the gross non-performing loan ratio declined from 14.3% in 2024 to 13.3% in 2025, meaning a smaller share of the bank’s loan book is in trouble.
Beyond Kenya, the group’s regional units posted strong local currency growth. I&M Bank Rwanda’s profit before tax rose 24%, Tanzania’s climbed 21%, and I&M Bank Uganda delivered the standout regional performance with a 48% increase in profit before tax, alongside significant growth in its total asset base. Bank One in Mauritius, a joint venture with CIEL Group, grew 4% in local currency terms — slower, but stable.
Regional subsidiaries together contributed 24% of the group’s overall performance, reinforcing the strategic rationale of the multi-country expansion that has been central to I&M Group’s iMara 3.0 plan.
Shareholders Get More
The board recommended a final dividend of KES 2.25 per share. Combined with an interim dividend of KES 1.50 per share already paid to shareholders in January 2026, the total dividend for 2025 comes to KES 3.75 per share — a 25% increase from the KES 3.00 per share paid for 2024. The final dividend, pending shareholder approval, is expected to be paid on or around May 21, 2026, to shareholders on record as at April 16, 2026.
Operating expenses rose 19% over the year, matching revenue growth almost exactly. The bank attributed this to branch expansions, staff training, and brand investment — all consistent with an institution in active growth mode rather than one cutting its way to profitability.
What Comes Next
I&M Group enters 2026 with a balance sheet that is growing, a digital platform that is widely adopted, a wealth management unit that is suddenly large, and a regional presence that is genuinely diversified. The critical test in the year ahead will be whether the group can sustain loan book growth in a lower interest rate environment — where lending spreads compress — and whether the wealth management and bancassurance businesses can hold onto the new clients they have evidently attracted at pace.
