Government's Pearl Bank posts Shs47 billion profit

Government-owned Pearl Bank, formerly PostBank Uganda, posted a profit after tax of Shs47.3 billion for the year ended December 2025.

The bank 's profits after tax jumped from Shs35.4 billion a year earlier, while customer deposits rose to about Shs1.417 trillion.

The 2025 performance also showed total income of about Shs298 billion, while Wendi wallet balances climbed sharply to about Shs240.5 billion.

The figures point to another year of balance sheet growth for the state-owned lender as it deepens its position in Uganda’s banking sector.

The results come at a time when the bank is also undergoing a transition in identity.

PostBank’s shift to Pearl Bank followed shareholder approval in June 2024, with the institution later receiving an operating licence from Bank of Uganda under its new name in November 2025.

For years, Uganda’s banking industry has largely been led by subsidiaries of regional and multinational groups.

Against that background, Pearl Bank’s recent growth has drawn attention because it is a fully Ugandan-owned institution with a stated ambition to combine commercial growth with broader economic inclusion.

Managing Director Julius Kakeeto has described the lender as a “national impact-led financial institution”, reflecting its effort to link profitability with support for entrepreneurship, service delivery and financial access.

That strategy is reflected in the bank’s five-year direction, which centres on sustainable financial inclusion and support for enterprise, especially in agriculture and small and medium-sized businesses.

The bank says this approach is meant to align with national development priorities while helping more Ugandans participate in the money economy.

One of the clearest signs of change is the growth of Wendi, the bank’s digital wallet platform.

The jump in wallet balances from about Shs45.5 billion to Shs240.5 billion within a year suggests more customers are choosing digital channels for saving and transacting.

That matters because stronger digital use can help lower dependence on traditional branch banking and widen access to financial services.

Pearl Bank has also continued to position itself around sectors often seen as difficult to finance, particularly agriculture, where it is pursuing a value-chain model rather than lending only to individual farmers.

At the same time, it has expanded targeted products for women and other underserved groups through group lending and digital access.

Taken together, the latest results suggest that the former PostBank is not only growing profits, but also trying to reshape its role in Uganda’s financial system.