Research & Analysis

Our Research

Fundamental analysis of Nepal's industries and companies. Each sector starts with an industry overview, followed by individual company deep-dives.

All Sectors Banking & Finance Energy & Hydropower Cement & Materials Reinsurance Alcohol & Beverages Investments Life Insurance Non-Life Insurance

Banking & Finance

6 reports

Sector Overview

Industry Report

Nepal Banking Sector — Industry Analysis

Nepal's 20 commercial banks held 59.3% of total financial system assets and 119.0% of GDP at FY 2022/23 (latest verified NRB Annual Report Table 34, 'Structure of Nepalese Financial System'). This report analyzes sector structure, credit quality, monetary policy, liquidity dynamics, and the NFRS 9 ECL transition that reshaped the competitive landscape from FY 2024/25.

May 1, 202618 min

Company Research

KBL

Kumari Bank Limited (NEPSE: KBL) — Company Deep Dive

Kumari Bank is a mid-tier Class A commercial bank whose 2023 merger with NCC Bank roughly doubled its balance sheet but triggered a sustained rise in non-performing loans from under 1% to 6.94%. A sharp normalization in loan-loss provisions drove 9M FY 2082/83 profits well above the prior full year. This deep dive examines the merger context, the NPL trajectory, digital franchise metrics, and the key unresolved question — the outcome of the NRB-commissioned Houladar Yunus loan portfolio review.

Jun 29, 202616 min

GBIME

Global IME Bank (GBIME) — Company Deep Dive

Nepal's largest commercial bank by assets and deposits, built through a 21-institution merger programme. Five audited years of financials (FY 2020/21–FY 2024/25), covering the Bank of Kathmandu merger, the NPL cycle from 1.25% to 4.56%, the FY 2024/25 ECL accounting transition, and the capital-adequacy position as of Q3 FY 2082/83.

Jun 9, 202628 min

SANIMA

Sanima Bank (SANIMA) — Company Deep Dive

A Class A commercial bank that went from 0.12% NPL to 3.99% in five years, earned a CARE A- rating the same month it switched from ICRA, and is now nine months into the sharpest earnings recovery since its 2012 commercial conversion. What the financials actually say.

May 24, 202620 min

NABIL

Nabil Bank (NABIL) — Company Deep Dive

Five years of audited financials (FY 2020/21–FY 2024/25), covering the Nepal Bangladesh Bank acquisition, the savings-deposit-led funding shift, declining ROE, NPA trajectory, and the CAR buffer ahead of the NFRS 9 ECL carve-out.

May 10, 202618 min

NICA

NIC Asia Bank (NICA) — Company Deep Dive

Through FY 2022/23 NIC Asia produced ROE above 16% and gross NPA below 1%. From FY 2023/24 onwards, the financial profile has deteriorated sharply: gross NPL is now 8.85% (Bank) / 9.53% (Group), Bank-basis retained earnings stand at Rs. -13.66B, and a 2:1 rights issue is pending AGM approval. This report works through the five most recent annual reports, the Q3 FY 2025/26 quarterly, and the verified governance and capital-raise timeline.

May 10, 202618 min

Energy & Hydropower

5 reports

Sector Overview

Industry Report

Nepal Electricity Sector: NEA Health Monitor & Industry Report

Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) crossed into net-exporter territory in FY 2023/24 and widened the surplus in FY 2024/25. This report works through NEA's six-year financial trajectory, the spread compression, the IPP commissioning wave, and the cross-border trade picture using NEA Annual Reports FY 2019/20–FY 2024/25 as the primary source.

May 10, 202618 min

Glossary

Nepal Hydropower Sector — Glossary of Terms

A plain-English reference guide to every term used in our hydropower research — from PPA structures and take-or-pay mechanics to NEA's role as sole offtaker and the difference between run-of-river and storage projects. Written for serious investors who want to understand the sector without the jargon.

Apr 26, 202610 min

Company Research

SAHAS

Sahas Urja Limited (SAHAS) — Investment Report

Sahas Urja owns 100% of the operating 86 MW Solu Khola (Dudh Koshi) run-of-river project in Solukhumbu and 56.67% of Times Energy, the project company building the 341 MW Budhi Gandaki PROR in Gorkha. The thesis is binary: a single-asset RoR if Budhi Gandaki stalls; a two-project compounder if it executes.

May 10, 202620 min

SHPC

Sanima Mai Hydro Power (SHPC) — Investment Report

Sanima Mai Hydropower owns 29 MW of run-of-river generation in Ilam (Mai 22 MW + Mai Cascade 7 MW) and holds promoter stakes in four other Sanima Group hydropower projects. Five-year financial trend, FY 2081/82 force-majeure impacts, and the embedded investment portfolio.

May 10, 202620 min

NEA

Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) — Company Analysis

NEA is not an investable security — it is 100% government owned and unlisted. But it is the single counterparty on every PPA that underpins every hydro IPP in Nepal. This analysis asks one question: is NEA solvent and payment-disciplined enough to anchor a long-horizon hydro IPP portfolio?

Apr 26, 202622 min

Cement & Materials

3 reports

Sector Overview

Industry Report

Nepal Cement Industry — Sector Analysis

Nepal's cement industry has approximately 22 MT/year of installed capacity against ~8 MT/year of domestic demand. National capacity utilisation is ~35–40%. This report covers industry structure, the FY 2024/25 plant closures in Koshi Province, the India export corridor, NEA dedicated-line tariff disputes, and the macro setup.

May 10, 202616 min

Company Research

SARBTM

Sarbottam Cement (SARBTM) — Investment Report

Sarbottam Cement runs Nepal's first VRM-technology plant from four self-owned limestone mines in Palpa, with 990,000 MT/year cement and clinker capacity standalone. The FY 2081/82 standalone net profit rebounded 6.9× to Rs. 1,028M; group profit was Rs. 1,314M after consolidating three acquired subsidiaries. Five-year financial trend, governance complexity, and the NEA tariff overhang.

May 10, 202618 min

SHIVM

Shivam Cements (SHIVM) — Investment Report

Shivam Cements is a vertically integrated Nepali cement producer (3,000 TPD cement, 1,900 TPD clinker) with five Makwanpur limestone permits. It also holds a 30% economic stake in Hongshi Shivam — Nepal's largest cement plant — that contributed Rs. 60.6 crore to FY 2081/82 group earnings. Five-year financial trend, balance-sheet strength, related-party complexity, and the FY 2024/25 depreciation policy change.

May 10, 202618 min

Reinsurance

3 reports

Sector Overview

Industry Report

Nepal Reinsurance Sector — Industry Overview

Nepal's two domestic reinsurers — NRIC (est. 2014) and HRL (est. 2021) — exist primarily because of a regulatory mandate requiring Nepali insurers to cede a portion of their risk domestically. The directly mandated cession rate is being phased down from 10% to 2% over four years under the NIA Reinsurance of Insurers Directive 2080 (2023).

May 10, 202613 min

Company Research

HRL

Himalayan Reinsurance (HRL) — Investment Report

Himalayan Reinsurance is one of Nepal's two domestic reinsurers, listed on NEPSE in January 2024. The company carries an AM Best B+ rating and reported a combined ratio of 79.72% in FY 2080/81. Since March 2026, the company has been at the centre of a money-laundering investigation involving a major promoter, with the NIA reviewing its status under Section 101 of the Insurance Act 2079.

May 10, 202616 min

NRIC

Nepal Reinsurance Company (NRIC) — Investment Report

Nepal Reinsurance Company is the older and larger of Nepal's two domestic reinsurers, with approximately 44% Government of Nepal ownership. FY 2080/81 audited financial statements have been outstanding since the original filing window, with NIA reviewing reported accounting discrepancies. Eight-year operating trend, 100% rights issue, and the mandatory-cession-rate taper.

May 10, 202616 min

Alcohol & Beverages

2 reports

Sector Overview

Industry Report

Nepal Alcohol & Spirits Industry — Sector Analysis

Carlsberg committed Rs 10 billion to Nepal in April 2026, alcohol excise revenue grew +26.64% year-on-year, and Jawalakhel Group quietly took 15% of Gorkha Brewery sixteen months after Carlsberg consolidated control. Yet the listed equity universe gives Nepali investors only two ways to play any of it. Most of the value in this industry is sitting in private hands.

May 9, 202616 min

Company Research

HDL

Himalayan Distillery (HDL) — Investment Report

Nepal's first listed distillery has cycled through peak, collapse, and recovery in five years — bonus-adjusted EPS ran NPR 29 → NPR 10 → NPR 31 across FY 2020/21 to today. The 9M FY 2025/26 numbers show the recovery is real, with gross margins stepping from 58% to 70%. The unresolved question is a NPR 720 million annual related-party flow that has been undisclosed across five audits.

May 9, 202620 min

Investments

4 reports

Sector Overview

Industry Report

Nepal's Investment Sector — A Six-Tier Ecosystem

Nepal's formal investment system spans six distinct tiers managing over Rs 1 trillion of institutional capital — from state pension giants to nascent venture funds and diaspora channels. This report maps how capital flows through the system, who controls the pools, and which structural shifts are reshaping allocation in FY 2082/83.

Jun 1, 202618 min

Company Research

CIT

Citizen Investment Trust (CIT) — Company Deep-Dive

Citizen Investment Trust is Nepal's largest listed investment institution — a quasi-sovereign retirement fund manager with Rs 333 billion of AUM, a 35-year operating history, and a structural business model under pressure from the Social Security Fund, falling spreads, and an unresolved Rs 21 billion loan to Nepal Airlines.

May 31, 202622 min

HIDCL

HIDCL — Nepal's Hydropower Development Finance Institution

Hydroelectricity Investment and Development Company Limited is Nepal's only purpose-built development finance institution for hydropower — carrying Rs 6,164 crore in committed project exposure across 4,210 MW. The business model is real, but disbursement chronically lags commitment, more than half of assets sit in bank deposits, and FY 81/82 earnings fell 36% as deposit rates collapsed.

May 31, 202620 min

NIFRA

NIFRA — Nepal's Sole Infrastructure Development Bank

Nepal Infrastructure Bank Limited is the only NRB-licensed infrastructure development bank in Nepal — a unique franchise financing hydro, solar, hospitals, and tourism projects across a Rs 25.6 billion loan book with near-zero NPL. FY 81/82 saw the bank's first green bond and a 64% balance sheet expansion. NIM compression from the green bond negative carry is the central analytical question heading into FY 82/83.

May 31, 202619 min

Life Insurance

3 reports

Sector Overview

Industry Report

Nepal Life Insurance Sector — Industry Report 2026

Nepal's life insurance sector manages a NPR 80,449 crore life fund across 14 licensed life insurers and 3 micro-life companies, with gross premiums growing at 15.3% in FY 2081/82 and 13.2% YTD through Q3 FY 2082/83. This report covers the sector's economics, the 17-company competitive landscape, endowment product dominance, and the NIA's 35% government securities investment mandate.

Jun 29, 202615 min

Company Research

NLICL

National Life Insurance Company Limited (NEPSE: NLICL) — Company Profile

National Life Insurance Company Limited is Nepal's second-largest private life insurer and oldest private insurer, founded in 1988. With a NPR 93.99 billion life insurance fund and 35,208 agents across 124 offices, this profile examines five years of audited financials, a critical zero government bond position against a 35% NIA mandate, declining in-force policy counts, and the audited-vs-published earnings variance.

Jun 28, 202614 min

NLIC

Nepal Life Insurance Company (NEPSE: NLIC) — Company Profile

Nepal Life Insurance is Nepal's largest private life insurer with 25.8% market share and a NPR 26,714 crore life insurance fund, serving over 912,000 active policyholders. This profile covers five years of audited financials, Q3 FY 2082/83 performance, competitive positioning, the 35% government securities mandate compliance question, and key governance disclosures.

Jun 27, 202614 min

Non-Life Insurance

4 reports

Sector Overview

Industry Report

Nepal Non-Life Insurance — Sector Overview

Nepal's 14-company non-life insurance sector wrote NPR 4,491 crore in gross premiums in FY 2081/82, with penetration at just 0.74% of GDP. The sector's best underwriters earn consistent net combined ratios of 60–75%, a severe catastrophe year in FY 2082/83 exposed both the sector's exposure to flood and political-risk losses and the durability of well-structured reinsurance programs.

Jun 17, 202614 min

Company Research

NIL

Neco Insurance (NEPSE: NIL) — Company Profile

Neco Insurance is Nepal's sole AIG Network Partner and one of the sector's most consistent underwriters, with a net combined ratio of 70–75% maintained over four audited years. At NPR 272.9 crore in nine-month GWP (FY 2082/83), it ranks seventh among the 14 non-life insurers, with a 30-year operating history and state-owned institutional promoters including Rastriya Banijya Bank and Agriculture Development Bank.

Jun 17, 202612 min

SGIC

Sanima GIC Insurance (NEPSE: SGIC) — Company Profile

Sanima GIC Insurance is a post-merger entity formed in October 2022 from the combination of Sanima General Insurance and GIC Nepal. It ranks #10 of 14 non-life insurers by nine-month FY 2082/83 GWP at 5.74% market share. The company achieved a net combined ratio of 75.6% in FY 2081/82, underwritten by a Hannover Re quota-share treaty, but a severely loss-making Q1 FY 2082/83 (net claims NPR 277M against NEP of NPR 112M) and a capital shortfall of NPR 350M below the NIA minimum are the key near-term monitoring points.

Jun 17, 202612 min

SICL

Shikhar Insurance (NEPSE: SICL) — Company Profile

Shikhar Insurance is Nepal's largest private-sector non-life insurer by gross written premium — #1 of 14 non-life companies at 13.23% market share. In FY 2081/82 the company achieved a net combined ratio of 60%, the best single-year underwriting result of its peer group, and is the only non-life insurer to hold an ICRA Nepal AA- credit rating. A catastrophic first quarter in FY 2082/83 driven by Bhadra floods and civil unrest was absorbed by a NPR 700–900 crore catastrophe reinsurance program, limiting net exposure to approximately NPR 36 crore.

Jun 17, 202613 min