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.
35 reports
Sector & Industry Reports
11 reportsNepal Telecom Sector — Industry Report 2026
Nepal's telecom sector is a maturing duopoly: NTC (~53% share) and Ncell (~47%) serve 101% voice teledensity in structural decline while mobile broadband penetration has surged to 139.5%. Ncell's August 2029 licence expiry is the sector's single largest near-term event.
Nepal Development Banks Sector — Industry Report 2026
Nepal's 17 licensed development banks manage NPR 721 billion in total assets with sector NPL at 5.04% (mid-July 2025) and rising. Credit growth of only 5% in 10M FY2082/83 reflects cautious lending appetite as NRB's rate-cut cycle compresses margins.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
Company Research
24 reportsNepal Telecom (NEPSE: NTC) — Company Profile
Nepal Doorsanchar Company Limited (NTC) is Nepal's state-controlled incumbent telecom with ~53% mobile market share, NPR 33,895 crore in core revenue, and a NPR 43 billion cash pile — but core revenue has declined four consecutive years as voice traffic erodes.
Sarbottam Cement (NEPSE: SARBTM) — Investment Report
Sarbottam Cement is Nepal's first book-building IPO and runs the country's first VRM-technology cement plant in Nawalparasi. Its celebrated FY2081/82 standalone revenue growth of +49.7% is largely an accounting artefact: NPR 4,067 million (42.7%) represents intercompany sales to subsidiaries, not external demand growth.
Shivam Cements (NEPSE: SHIVM) — Investment Report
Shivam Cements is Nepal's first listed cement company and the most fortress-like operator in the sector: near-zero debt, profitable in every year of an eight-year downturn, and owner of a 30% look-through stake in Hongshi-Shivam — Nepal's largest modern cement plant. Standalone EPS 15.22 and Group EPS 27.26 are not the same number.
Citizen Investment Trust (NEPSE: CIT) — Company Profile
Citizen Investment Trust is Nepal's only listed pension fund manager with NPR 266.7 billion in scheme AUM across seven off-balance-sheet retirement funds. Central account EPS is NPR 19.38 and falling (−15.8% from peak) while SSF grew from 1 million to 3 million contributors in a year — the competitive and valuation context is the story.
Himalayan Distillery (NEPSE: HDL) — Investment Report
Himalayan Distillery is Nepal's first and only listed distillery, with a 30 KLPD ENA plant and flagship Golden Oak whisky. Its 40UP whisky market share fell from 80% to 66% over four years while five-year net sales grew at 0.1% CAGR — a core-share erosion story masked by a genuine margin step in FY2082/83.
Nabil Bank (NEPSE: NABIL) — Company Deep Dive
Nabil Bank is Nepal's largest private commercial bank by market capitalization, with NPR 636.8 billion in total assets after the NB Bank merger. At 4.48% gross NPL, a 9.77% ROE below cost of equity, and a non-dilutive NPR 8 billion recapitalization completed in FY2082/83, the key question is whether the credit recovery survives the FY2082/83 annual audit.
Neco Insurance (NEPSE: NIL) — Company Profile
Neco Insurance Limited is Nepal's AIG Network Partner and one of the sector's most consistent underwriters, with a net combined ratio of 70–76% over four audited years. Its FY2081/82 investment income fell 36% to NPR 286 million — but Note 29 confirms 96% of the drop is fixed-deposit repricing, not structural impairment.
Sahas Urja Limited (NEPSE: SAHAS) — Investment Report
Sahas Urja operates the 86 MW Solu Khola run-of-river plant in Solukhumbu under a 30-year take-or-pay PPA and holds 56.67% of Times Energy, developer of the 341 MW Budhi Gandaki project. At NPR 662, approximately 57% of market cap reflects what the crowd is already paying for Budhi Gandaki — a plant 5–6 years from first generation.
Garima Bikas Bank (NEPSE: GBBL) — Company Profile
Garima Bikas Bank Limited (GBBL) is Nepal's second-largest development bank by assets with NPR 104.5 billion in total assets, NPR 3,612 million net interest income in FY2081/82, and a gross NPL ratio of 4.69% — stabilizing after a trough-earnings year driven by NPR 1,711 million in impairment charges.
Muktinath Bikas Bank (NEPSE: MNBBL) — Company Profile
Muktinath Bikas Bank Limited (MNBBL) is Nepal's largest development bank by assets at NPR 136.5 billion, but its gross NPL surged from 2.97% (FY2081/82) to 4.88% (Q3 FY2082/83), approaching NRB's 5% ceiling — the most important risk metric to monitor in FY2082/83.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?