Britam Holdings has increased its stake in HF Group after acquiring additional shares in a Sh355.42 million deal, marking a second consecutive year in which the insurer has raised its ownership in the mortgage lender.
The insurance services firm revealed that the deal was completed in September 2025 through its wholly owned subsidiary, Britam Life Assurance Company (Kenya) Limited. The deal pushed Britam’s stake in HF Group to 49.89 percent at the end of December 2025.
‘The Britam Life Assurance (Kenya) Limited increased its shareholding in September 2025, investing Sh353 million, increasing its percentage shareholding. HF remains an associate for the Group, with the shareholding of 49.89 percent,’ Britam says in the latest disclosures.
The latest shareholding in HF Group marks an increase from the 48.17 percent held in the previous year.
In 2024, Britam invested Sh2.89 billion in HF by participating in a rights issue.
The insurer has been increasing its stake in HF on the back of the lender’s rising share price, boosting the valuation of the holding at the Nairobi bourse.
Valuation jump
Britam says the fair value of its interest in HF Group was Sh9.36 billion at the end of December 2025, more than double the Sh4.09 billion valuation in the previous year.
The jump in Britam’s stake value came as the lender’s share price at the Nairobi Securities Exchange rose to Sh9.96 from Sh4.51. The share closed last week at Sh9.
The latest valuation is nearly 16 times higher than the Sh591.67 million valuation in 2022, when the HF share closed the year at an average of Sh3.19.
Britam continues to account for HF as an associate in line with global accounting rules.
It holds a 100 percent stake in Kilimani Hotel Suites Limited and 30 percent in Continental Reinsurance Company (Kenya) Limited.
In accounting, a company is deemed an associate if another firm owns 20 to 50 percent of its equity, a level that gives the investing company significant influence but not control.
Profit share
The insurer’s share of pre-tax profit from associates more than doubled to Sh860 million from Sh421 million, mainly arising from growth in the profit of Kilimani Hotel Suites from Sh56 million to Sh74 million.
Continental Reinsurance (Kenya) Company contributed Sh93 million last year, down from Sh121 million in the previous period.
Britam acquired the Continental Re stake in 2024 through two limited liability partnerships in a deal valued at Sh763.78 million.
Continental Re Kenya is a subsidiary of Continental Re Group, a reinsurer headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, offering services in 50 African countries.
The Kenyan unit, which started as a branch office in 2008 and converted to a subsidiary in 2013, serves as Continental Re’s underwriting centre for the Eastern region, covering Kenya, Burundi, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Rwanda, South Sudan, Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda.
Britam posted a 10 percent rise in net profit to a record Sh5.53 billion in the financial year ended December 2025, marking the fifth straight year of increasing profitability.
The rise in net profit from Sh5.03 billion in the prior year was lifted by increased insurance and investment income, especially in the long-term business.
The latest profit marks the highest ever in Britam’s history, which in 2020 suffered its worst-ever loss of Sh9.1 billion.
Britam Group has a presence in seven African countries: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan, Mozambique and Malawi.