The insurance sector continued
to dominate activities at the Nairobi Securities Exchange in the week ending April 10, after several
companies announced huge dividends following impressive full-year results.
Liberty
Kenya profits more than doubled to Sh1.37 billion for the financial year ending December 31, 2024. Its share
price increased by 7.5 per cent to Sh11.45 as investors celebrated dividends
that had increased threefold.
The
insurer’s board has proposed a final dividend of Sh1 per share, including Sh0.5
special payouts, marking a sharp increase from Sh0.373 in 2023, subject to
shareholder approval at its May 2025 Annual General Meeting.
Earnings
per share more than doubled to Sh2.59, up 112 per cent from Sh1.22 in 2023,
while total assets expanded 10 per cent to Sh48.15 billion from Sh43.8 billion
reported in 2023.
The
impressive performance was anchored in a 233 per cent surge in net investment
income to Sh4.7 billion, buoyed by capital market recovery and favourable
interest rate movements.
The
group plans to exit the Tanzanian market by divesting its stake in Heritage
Tanzania.
“The
sale of the group's 60 per cent ownership in Heritage Insurance Tanzania is
progressing well. The sale is expected to be concluded within the first half of
2025 after all pending regulatory approvals are received,” according to the
firm’s statement.
Sanlam
insurance’s share continued the bullish trend picked the previous week after it
announced a
rights issue, seeking a rise to Sh2.5 billion. Market analysts expect the share
price, which rose by 8.95 per cent to lead the gain list, to persist in coming
days as the rights issue day fast approaches.
Centum
Investment Company PLC entered into a partnership with ARISE, a prominent
developer of industrial ecosystems in Africa, to launch a $3 billion (Sh387
billion) initiative creating 500,000 jobs at the Vipingo Special Economic Zone
on the Kenyan Coast. Its share price rose by 4.5 per cent to close the week
among the top gainers.
Longhorn
Publishers continues to reap the benefits of narrowing half-year losses by
nearly 29 per cent as investors hope that it could return to profitability by
June’s full year results. The firm’s share rose 7.91 per cent to Sh3 to become
the second- most gaining counter at the NSE.
Investors
at the animal and human food processor Unga Group lost Sh1 per share to become
the biggest loser at the bourse in the week ending April 10.
The
shares in Unga Group, which returned to profitability in February after a dry
spell of nearly three years, dropped to Sh23.20, a 9.9 per cent decline
compared with the previous week when it hit a six-month high of Sh24.95.
Generally,
activities at the Nairobi bourse slowed in the week ended April 10, and all indices dropped by
at least four per cent.
The
NASI, NSE 25 and NSE 20 share price indices decreased by 4.18 per cent,
4.23 per cent and 4.24 per cent, respectively.
Market
capitalisation and total shares traded decreased by 4.18 per cent and 16.54 per
cent, respectively while equity turnover increased by 7.06 per cent. This meant
investors lost close to Sh87 billion in paper wealth, the highest since January.
The
Treasury Bill auction of April 10 received bids totalling Sh53.8 billion
against an advertised amount of Sh24 billion, representing a performance of 224
per cent. This is despite the interest rate on the 91-day, 182-day and 364-day
Treasury bills further.
The
Treasury bond tap sale of April 10, the 15-year fixed-rate Treasury bonds received
bids totalling Sh13.2 billion against an advertised amount of Sh10 billion,
representing a performance of 132.4 per cent.
Experts
expect yields on the government paper to continue dropping after the Central
Bank of Kenya further cut the base lending rate by 75 basis points to 10 per
cent on Tuesday last
week.
Although
investors have been favouring state bonds and bills for security reasons, declining
yields are likely to see most of them rethink investment portfolios, with money
market funds, crypto and the NSE likely to gain.
During
the week, CBK announced that the country received $422 million in diaspora
remittances, up from $407.8 million recorded in a similar period last year.
The
cumulative inflows for the 12 months to March this year increased by 13.5 per cent to $4.97
billion, compared to $4.38 billion in the similar period in 2024.
“The
remittance inflows continue to support the current account and the foreign
exchange market. The US remains the largest source of remittances to Kenya,
accounting for 53 per cent in March 2025,”
