CRDB Profit Hits TZS 672 Billion as Loans Surge 44% and Borrowing Rises

CRDB Bank Group posted TZS 672.1 billion in profit after tax for the nine months to September 2026, up 29.1 percent from TZS 520.5 billion a year earlier, as rapid loan growth, stronger interest income and rising fees pushed earnings higher, although the balance sheet also shows the bank leaning more heavily on borrowing as lending expands faster than customer deposits. Profit before tax reached TZS 962.2 billion, up 28.9 percent from TZS 746.2 billion in the corresponding period of 2025, while third quarter profit after tax alone rose to TZS 255.2 billion from TZS 174.0 billion a year earlier, an increase of almost 47 percent. Interest income for the first nine months rose 32.4 percent to TZS 1.865 trillion, while net interest income increased 28 percent to TZS 1.268 trillion, giving CRDB a larger earnings base from its lending operations even as funding costs moved sharply higher. The stronger earnings were accompanied by one of the more aggressive balance sheet expansions among Tanzania’s largest banks. The group ended September with total assets of TZS 27.45 trillion and net loans of TZS 18.44 trillion, with the financial statements highlighting year on year growth of 34.2 percent and 43.7 percent respectively. Total deposits stood at about TZS 17.79 trillion, up 26.5 percent from a year earlier, meaning credit has been expanding considerably faster than the deposit base. That divergence becomes clearer when the third quarter is viewed against June. Net loans and advances increased from TZS 16.96 trillion to TZS 18.44 trillion between June and September, while customer deposits declined from TZS 18.54 trillion to TZS 17.41 trillion. Gross loans and advances consequently reached 106 percent of total deposits at group level, up from 92.5 percent in June, while loans increased to 67.2 percent of total assets from 64.2 percent. Lending Growth Is Outrunning Deposits CRDB’s numbers show a bank that is still finding considerable demand for credit, but one that increasingly has to fund that growth from sources beyond ordinary customer deposits. Group borrowings increased to TZS 5.84 trillion at the end of September from TZS 4.15 trillion three months earlier, an increase of about 41 percent in a single quarter, while customer deposits fell by more than TZS 1.1 trillion over the same period. The cash flow statement reinforces that shift. CRDB recorded a cumulative TZS 4.68 trillion increase in loans and advances during the first nine months of the year, compared with TZS 2.53 trillion during the comparable period, while deposits provided TZS 2.86 trillion in additional funding and net changes in borrowings contributed another TZS 1.73 trillion. Operating activities consequently absorbed TZS 1.78 trillion in cash, while financing activities provided about TZS 1.50 trillion. For CRDB, the funding mix becomes increasingly important as the loan book grows because wholesale borrowing is generally more expensive than retail deposits. Interest expense rose 42.6 percent to TZS 597.4 billion during the first nine months of 2026, substantially faster than the 32.4 percent increase in interest income. Net interest income still expanded strongly because the lending book grew so rapidly, but the higher funding cost indicates that maintaining the current pace of credit expansion will increasingly depend on the bank’s ability to protect margins and attract lower cost deposits. Fees Are Becoming a Larger Earnings Engine CRDB’s earnings growth was not limited to interest income. Non interest income increased 28.1 percent to TZS 648.9 billion, with fees and commissions rising 28.3 percent to TZS 508.5 billion from TZS 396.5 billion a year earlier. Foreign currency dealing and translation income reached TZS 97.1 billion, while other operating income rose to TZS 43.3 billion. The fee performance gives the bank another earnings source as its customer base, payments business and regional operations expand, and it also reduces dependence on the spread between lending and deposit rates. The importance of that diversification becomes greater when funding costs rise because fee income can continue supporting profitability even when net interest margins come under pressure. Operating expenses also increased, but at a slower rate than income. Non interest expenses rose 23.4 percent to TZS 793.9 billion, including TZS 360.4 billion in salaries and benefits and TZS 359.0 billion in other operating expenses. The ratio of non interest expense to gross income improved to 41.4 percent from 43.0 percent a year earlier, suggesting that revenue growth continued to outpace the increase in operating costs. CRDB ended the quarter with 4,811 employees across the group, up from 4,480 a year earlier, while the branch network increased to 268 from 264. Credit Quality Remains Strong, but Impairment Costs Are Rising The rapid expansion of the loan book has not yet translated into a material deterioration in headline asset quality. Non performing loans represented 2.27 percent of gross loans at group level in September, slightly below 2.36 percent in June, even though the absolute amount of non performing loans increased from TZS 408.0 billion to TZS 427.5 billion. The more notable movement is in impairment charges. Losses on loans and advances increased to TZS 160.4 billion during the first nine months from TZS 106.9 billion in the same period of 2025, a rise of about 50 percent, while allowances for probable losses on the balance sheet increased to TZS 252.8 billion from TZS 203.5 billion in June. That increase does not currently point to a deterioration in the overall loan book because the NPL ratio remains low, but it shows that the cost of protecting the rapidly expanding credit portfolio is rising. As CRDB pushes loans toward TZS 20 trillion, the relationship between loan growth, impairment charges and non performing loans will become an increasingly important measure of the quality of that expansion. Returns Remain High Even as the Balance Sheet Gets Larger CRDB’s return on average shareholders’ funds reached 29.33 percent on a cumulative basis, slightly above 29.0 percent in the comparable period, while third quarter return on equity increased to 31.9 percent from 28.0 percent. Return on average assets was 5.0 percent for the nine month period, compared with 5.3 percent a year earlier, while the quarterly measure improved to 5.3 percent from 4.9 percent. Shareholders’ funds increased to TZS 3.27 trillion from TZS 3.02 trillion in June, supported by retained earnings and current year profits, while the group paid TZS 235.1 billion in dividends during the period. Basic earnings per share increased to TZS 257 on a cumulative basis from TZS 199 a year earlier. The bank’s capital position has therefore continued to strengthen alongside the balance sheet, with shareholders’ funds equal to 11.9 percent of total assets at group level compared with 11.4 percent in June. Earnings assets accounted for 88.5 percent of total assets, reflecting the extent to which CRDB is deploying its balance sheet into loans, government securities and other income generating assets. Al Barakah Assets Cross TZS 643 Billion CRDB’s Islamic banking window, Al Barakah, also continued to expand, with total assets increasing to TZS 643.1 billion at the end of September from TZS 609.3 billion in June. Total deposits rose to TZS 427.0 billion, while Sukuk liabilities increased to TZS 216.1 billion. The Shariah compliant financing book, however, declined to TZS 433.1 billion from TZS 537.9 billion in June. Al Barakah generated TZS 38.4 billion in total income during the first nine months, including TZS 26.6 billion in net financing income and TZS 11.8 billion in non funding income, adding another earnings channel as CRDB expands into specialised financial products. CRDB’s Next Test Is Funding the Pace of Growth The headline result is a bank still producing very strong earnings growth, but the more revealing numbers sit deeper in the balance sheet. Loans are growing considerably faster than deposits, the loan to deposit ratio has moved above 100 percent and borrowing increased by almost TZS 1.7 trillion in three months as CRDB continued extending credit. For now, the strategy is producing returns. Profit after tax is up 29 percent, quarterly profit growth is approaching 47 percent, non performing loans remain around 2 percent and fee income is expanding alongside the loan book. The cost of that growth is also becoming more visible through higher interest expense, rising impairment charges and greater use of borrowed funding. CRDB therefore enters the final quarter of 2026 with a larger and more profitable balance sheet, but also with a funding structure that will require closer attention as lending continues to expand. The next stage of the bank’s performance will depend not only on how much more credit it can originate, but on whether deposit growth catches up, asset quality remains intact and the cost of financing that expansion stays below the returns generated by the new loans.