Safaricom grants managers Sh707 million in free shares as Kenyan banks record Sh111 billion profit

Senior Safaricom managers received 20.1 million free shares worth about Sh707.5 million for the fiscal year ended March 2026, with chief executive Peter Ndegwa and chief finance officer Dilip Pal among the beneficiaries. The award follows a sharp rise in Safaricom’s share price, which has more than tripled since October 2023, and marks the exhaustion of the employee‑share trust’s holdings.

Kenya’s commercial banks posted a 13.8% increase in pre‑tax profit to Sh111.8 billion in the four months to April, driven by a 9.37% expansion of the loan book to Sh4.5 trillion and a drop in non‑performing loans to 15.4% of total lending. Banks cut deposit rates faster than loan rates, improving margins, and the sector’s market valuation jumped 71% to Sh1.62 trillion. The period also saw the ongoing 66% acquisition of NCBA Group by South Africa’s Nedbank Group valued at Sh110 billion.