Closing Bell: Unga Gains While Home Afrika Slumps At The NSE
At 3.10 pm today when the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) closed, Unga Group Limited (UNGA) was the top gainer. It was up 7.79% to KES 41.50 compared to yesterday's close of KES 38.50. Since the beginning of the year the share has appreciated by over 115%. This means that if you had put KES 1 million into Unga in January, as of today you would have realised KES 2.15 million.
The flour miller last month announced a 40.3% increase in profit for the year ended June 2014 to KES 474.494m from KES 338.196m. The end year results summary can be obtained here. In addition, Unga recently announced that it is in talks to acquire Nairobi-based Ennsvaley Bakery which makes bread, cakes, doughnuts, cupcakes and cookies. This is to diversify from its current core business of maize and wheat flour production.
Ian Gachichio, a Research Analyst at Kestrel Capital comments, "...the good earnings of the company as well as its expansion and diversification plans, in its bid to acquire Ennsvaley Bakery have reinforced investors' view of Unga's value"
The company's share price performance for the last 12 months is given below:
Home Afrika Limited (HAFR) on the other hand was the top decliner. The real estate firm shed 9.88% to end the day at KES 3.65 down from yesterday's closing price of KES 4.05. In the year ended December 2013, Home Afrika had reported a 25.4% net profit drop to KES 80.6 million. The company attributed the decline to changes in accounting policies that resulted in lower valuation gains on investments in line with international financial reporting standards.
Furthermore, the company announced a 72% drop in half year profits from KES 115.49 million in the six months to June 2013 to KES 42.9 million in the six months to June 2014. This was attributed to new accounting rules that demand firms record sales once buyers pay fully for their properties—until then the deposits and other part payments are not recognised as income.
Gachichio stated, "The delays in the Migaa project as well as the repeated change in accounting policy have discouraged investors, leading to the counter's declined performance."
Home Afrika's share price performance for the last 12 months is given below:
The winners:
The other top gainers were: Express Kenya Limited (XPRS), British American Tobacco Kenya Limited (BAT), Olympia Capital Holdings Limited (OCH), and Uchumi Supermarkets Limited (UCHM). They closed at KES 7.00, 1048.00, 5.80 and 8.50 respectively.
The losers:
Other companies that shed value were: Eaagads Limited (EGAD), Kenya Orchards Limited (ORCH), Bamburi Cement Company Limited (BAMB) and Sasini Tea And Coffee Limited (SASN). They ended the day at KES 38.00, 170.00, 145.00 and 13.00 respectively.
Market snapshot
As at 3.10 pm today.
Most shares traded:
Safaricom Limited (SCOM), Equity Bank Limited (EQTY), The Co-operative Bank of Kenya Limited (COOP), Mumias Sugar Company Limited (MSC), and Barclays Bank Of Kenya Limited (BBK). Over 14.61 million Safaricom shares changed hands today representing 53.00% of all shares traded.
Indices
The NSE 20 share index declined today, it fell 0.98% to 5101.11.
However, the NSE All Share Index (NASI) appreciated by 0.39% to 159.21.
