Inside NSE: HFCB Group (Formerly HF Group, HFCK)

A quick note on the name before we start: the company most Kenyans know as Housing Finance, and later HF Group, was renamed HFCB Group PLC effective May 22, 2026.

Its NSE ticker has moved with the rebrand from HFCK to HFCB, although some data sites and broker platforms still show the old code. This post uses the new name and ticker, and flags the old ones where it helps you find the stock.

History and Founding Story

HFCB’s roots go back to November 18, 1965, when Housing Finance Company of Kenya was established to encourage saving and home ownership among citizens of the newly independent country.

It took over the Kenyan branch of the First Permanent Building Society, a Zambian registered firm that had operated across several African countries, and began operating in 1966.

The founding shareholders were the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) of the United Kingdom, at one point holding 60 percent, and the Government of Kenya, whose stake later rose to parity with CDC’s.

For decades, Housing Finance was the country’s premier mortgage lender. Its development arm, Kenya Building Society, delivered thousands of homes, including about 4,700 units in Nairobi’s Buru Buru estate between 1970 and 1985.

The company listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange in 1992, with CDC and the government each keeping about 30 percent and the balance taken up by Kenyan institutions and individuals, among them the National Social Security Fund (NSSF).

The company changed steadily in the years that followed. It shortened its name to Housing Finance Limited in 2002, won regulatory approval to offer current accounts in 2010, and saw insurer Britam take a controlling influence in 2014 by buying Equity Group’s stake, which lifted Britam to about 46 percent.

In 2015 it reorganized into a non operating holding company, HF Group, with a banking subsidiary underneath.

The most dramatic chapter is recent. Before 2024, the group’s capital ratios were below the Central Bank of Kenya’s requirements, so it raised about Ksh 6 billion through a rights issue priced at Sh4.00 per share, which shareholders oversubscribed by 38 percent.

The fresh capital powered a turnaround that saw the group upgraded to Tier II bank status in 2025 and renamed HFCB Group in May 2026, with its banking arm now called HFCB Bank Kenya.

In sixty years the business has carried three identities: Housing Finance, HF Group, and now HFCB.

Core Business Lines and Revenue Streams

The group has moved well beyond its mortgage origins into a broader financial services platform:

Retail banking: savings and deposit accounts, personal and micro loans, and residential mortgages for owner occupiers.
Corporate and commercial banking: scheme mortgages, lending to property developers for housing, offices, schools, and hospitals, short term loans, and corporate deposits.
SME, trade finance, and diaspora banking: business lending, trade finance, and products for Kenyans living abroad.
Asset finance: loans for vehicles, tractors, medical and laboratory equipment, school buses, and industrial equipment.
Property development: through HFDI, the group’s property development and investment arm.
Bancassurance: distributing insurance products through its insurance agency subsidiary.
Social investment: through HF Foundation, whose flagship goal is building a workforce of skilled construction artisans.

Financially, 2025 was a breakout year. Net profit rose 171 percent to Ksh 1.42 billion from Ksh 524 million, on revenue of about Ksh 5.8 billion, up 55 percent, driven largely by lending to government and expansion of non property loans.

Momentum continued into 2026: first quarter net income reached Ksh 475.5 million, up 45 percent year on year.

By March 31, 2026, total assets stood at Ksh 90.5 billion (up from Ksh 82.4 billion at December 2025), customer deposits at Ksh 65.5 billion, and shareholders’ equity at Ksh 18.5 billion.

The branch network spans Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru, Nyeri, Eldoret, Kisumu, Thika, Meru, Kitengela, Ongata Rongai, Nyali, Naivasha, and Kisii.

Competitive Position in the Industry

HFCB is a Tier II bank, a clear step below the Tier 1 lenders covered elsewhere in this series. With about Ksh 90 billion in assets, it holds a small slice of the sector compared with giants such as KCB, Equity, or Co-operative Bank, whose balance sheets are many times larger.

What it has is a heritage brand in housing finance, a turnaround story, and momentum.

The rebrand and the Tier II upgrade signal an ambition to compete for commercial and SME customers, not just mortgage borrowers.

Analysts have noted the open question: whether a Tier II platform can attract the low cost deposits that bigger banks command as interest rates ease.

The weak spot is asset quality. Gross non performing loans stood at Ksh 10.96 billion in March 2026, though after provisions and interest in suspense the net exposure falls to Ksh 2.12 billion.

Trailing valuation multiples are also far higher than the Kenyan banking average, reflecting how much recovery investors have already priced in.

Ownership Structure

As of late 2025, Britam Holdings was the largest shareholder with 48.2 percent, a position it has built up since its 2014 purchase and reinforced by taking up its full rights in the 2024 share issue.

Retail investors held about 41.2 percent, and the NSSF together with the National Treasury held about 10.6 percent.

The government’s stake, once as high as 50 percent, has shrunk to a small holding, and CDC exited long ago.

Among the individual investors, the family of former Kenya Revenue Authority chair Anthony Mwaura was reported in early 2026 as the second largest shareholder with 12.72 percent, and several prominent business and political figures have also bought in, betting on the housing finance story.

Because the ownership picture shifted during the rights issue, check the latest annual report for current percentages before quoting them.

Why It’s Listed on the NSE Specifically

HFCB’s NSE listing is tied to both its public mission and its funding needs:

A public purpose from day one: the company was founded to widen home ownership among Kenyans, and listing in 1992 let ordinary citizens, pension funds, and institutions own a stake in that mission rather than leaving it in the hands of the government and a foreign development agency alone.
Partial exit for the founders: the 1992 listing gave CDC and the government a way to bring in local investors while keeping meaningful stakes, an approach common in Kenya’s early privatization era.
Local incorporation and regulation: HFCB is incorporated in Kenya and licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya, so the NSE is its natural home for public capital.
Access to fresh capital when it counted: the 2024 rights issue, sold to existing NSE shareholders and listed on the exchange, raised about Ksh 6 billion and rescued the group’s capital position. That episode is a textbook example of what a listing offers a bank that needs to recapitalize.
A holding company structure: since 2015 the listed entity has been the holding company, with the bank held beneath it, following Kenya’s banking laws on group structures.

Current Stock Price

As of August 18, 2026, HFCB closed at Sh13.20 on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, up roughly 33 percent from its opening price of Sh9.92 at the start of the year and near the top of its 52 week range, which bottomed at about Sh8.84.

The stock is still far below its all time high of Sh55.70, reached in 2006, so recent gains have come off a low base.

On the data I found, the company is not currently paying dividends, so returns depend on price growth, though management has pointed to the possibility of payouts as profitability is sustained.

Prices move daily, so treat this figure as a snapshot rather than today’s price.

Check the live quote through the NSE website, your broker’s trading platform, or a data source such as African Markets or myStocks before making any decision, and remember that some sites still list the stock under its old ticker, HFCK.

How to Buy HFCB Group Shares

Buying HFCB shares follows the standard process used across the Kenyan market:

Open a CDS account. A Central Depository System (CDS) account holds your shares electronically. You can open one through the Central Depository and Settlement Corporation (CDSC), though most investors do this through a licensed stockbroker as part of onboarding.
Choose a licensed stockbroker. You’ll need an NSE licensed brokerage, such as Faida Investment Bank, AIB-AXYS Africa, Genghis Capital, or SBG Securities, to place trades. Most offer mobile or online trading platforms.
Fund your trading account. Deposit money into the account linked to your broker, typically through bank transfer or mobile money, depending on what the brokerage supports.
Place your buy order. Specify the ticker (HFCB, formerly HFCK), the number of shares, and your price, either a market order at the prevailing price or a limit order at a price you set. If your broker’s platform still lists the old code, search for HF Group or HFCK instead.
Diaspora and foreign investor options. Kenyans abroad and foreign investors can buy HFCB shares too. Many Kenyan brokerages support remote account opening with certified identification, and some platforms allow USD settlement, letting diaspora investors trade without being physically present in Kenya.
Track your holding. Once the trade settles, usually within a few business days, the shares reflect in your CDS account. You can follow price movement, dividend announcements, and corporate actions through your broker’s platform, the NSE website, or financial data sites carrying live NSE quotes.

As with any equity investment, share prices can go down as well as up, and this isn’t financial advice. It’s worth doing your own research, or speaking with a licensed financial advisor, before buying.