Astana, 2 November. The net profit of second-tier banks for January–September 2026 was 1.812 trillion tenge, 11.6% less than in the same period of 2025, the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM) reported.
Kazakh banks on 1 October
- 1.812 trillion tenge
net profit for nine months - −11.6%
year on year - 76.8 trillion tenge
assets - 11.4 trillion tenge
equity - 22.7%
return on equity - 3.9%
share of loans overdue by more than 90 days
According to the ARDFM
- 1.812 trillion tenge
Banking sector assets reached 76.8 trillion tenge on 1 October: they grew by 1.5% in September and by 8.6% since the start of the year, mainly thanks to the loan portfolio, which rose 1.1% to 46.8 trillion tenge. Banks’ equity grew by 0.7% over the month to 11.4 trillion tenge, and by 7.5% since the start of the year; the Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio (k1) was 19.5% and the total capital ratio (k2) 20.3%. Return on assets (ROA) stayed at 3.5%, while return on equity (ROE) dipped slightly, from 22.8% to 22.7%.
Profit has been falling all year, but more slowly than before. After eight months the agency cited 1.61 trillion tenge and minus 13.6%, so the gap with last year narrowed by two percentage points in a month. According to the National Bank, as cited by Bizmedia.kz, banks earned 202 billion tenge in September alone.
Lending is mixed. The loan portfolio to large business shrank by 0.9% in September to 5 trillion tenge, and by 8.7% since the start of the year; the ARDFM attributed this mainly to a large repayment of debt at one bank. The portfolio of loans to individual entrepreneurs grew by 0.9% to 3.4 trillion tenge. The share of loans overdue by more than 90 days was 3.9% on 1 October, down 0.1 percentage points over the month; in absolute terms that is 1.8 trillion tenge. The sector has 23 second-tier banks, 10 of them subsidiaries of foreign banks and one wholly state-owned.
What it means: Banks earn 11.6% less than a year ago, but assets and equity are growing and the share of overdue loans is not rising. The lag in profit behind last year narrowed over a month from 13.6% to 11.6%.
Background: Analysts at Halyk Research linked the decline in profitability back in the summer to two decisions: an increase in banks’ minimum reserve requirements from September 2025 and a rise in the corporate income tax rate from 1 January 2026; according to Halyk Research, they “have a negative effect on their profitability indicators.” The third stage of the reserve-requirement increase was scheduled for September 2026.
We have also reported that inflation in Kazakhstan slowed to 9.2% year on year in October.
