UAP second most valued insurer on Old Mutual deal

UAP insurance has been ranked the second most valued insurance company after Britam. This comes after Old Mutual raised its stake in the insurance company to 60.66 per cent after buying an extra 37.33 per cent stake. The company which plans to list in the market in the second-half of 2015 is currently trading on the OTC, meaning its price could rise once the risk premium normally attached to non-listed firms decreases [...]

Kenya diaspora inflows hit high of Sh130 billion

Remittances from the diaspora have reached Sh129.99 billion in 2014, an increase of 10 percent compared to the previous year. This could be attributed to better capture by the commercial banks, an improvement in the US economy and more remittances from new sources especially Asia. The CBK indicates the improved remittances as a result of improved investor confidence in the country and increased investment opportunities [...]

Fake low denomination notes on the increase

The number of fake denomination notes of Sh500 and Sh200 notes remitted by banks to the  CBK last year has more than doubled as those of Sh1,000 dropped by a quarter. This number excludes those captured and mutilated by bank officers and business men. Fraudsters, who often avoid making fake notes of low denomination due to the cost of production and risk involved have started doing the same due to less scrutiny of these notes. Banks that forward fake notes to the CBK are charged a fine equivalent to five times the value of the note. These institutions have therefore started using intelligent cash-counting machines that detect and reject fake notes based on their weighting [...]

State probes Mwalimu Sacco’s bid to buy Merali bank

The Government has stopped Mwalimu Sacco’s bid to acquire Equatorial Commercial Bank (ECB), owned by Naushad Merali’s, and ordered an inquiry into the transaction despite the buyout’s approval by regulators. Commissioner of Co-operatives, Patrick Musyimi yesterday appointed an inquiry team to probe several allegations of irregularity on the Sh1.6 billion deal and submit a report to him. The Sacco which had purchased a 51 per cent controlling stake in the commercial bank and thereafter received regulatory approval from the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK), Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (Sasra).

Mwalimu Sacco had released a statement that the process had followed due process and was handled by Ernst and Young and Mose and Mose Advocates. It further indicated that the transaction was also approved by the society’s special delegates meeting in September last year.

A letter from the Co-operatives Alliance of Kenya Limited, which was sent to Industrialization Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed, indicated that members of Mwalimu Sacco had not approved for the purchase of ECB. The letter faults the Sacco and ECB of flouting due process at every stage of the transaction despite the massive value of members’ investment involved [...]

Rea Vipingo owners face second year of dividend freeze

Directors of Rea Vipingo have recommended a second year of non-payment of dividend despite the firm making improved operating profit for the year ended 30th September, 2014. Rea Vipingo has been frozen on the NSE after the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) suspended it from trading in November 2013 following a takeover bid. This means the shareholders will go for a second year running without cashing in on dividends. Changes in the fair value of its sisal plants saw the firm’s net profit drop to Sh350.9 million from Sh444.81 million posted in 2013. The whole profit has been put in the reserves [...]

Indian firm Orb gets Sh183m solar funding

An Indian vendor of solar generators and shower systems, Orb Energy, intends to use Sh183 million that it raised from Dutch development bank FMO for local expansion in Kenya. This will enable it to open 50 more branches across the country from the current two based in Nairobi and Kisumu. The firm which intends to work with banks and Saccos to lend customers the funds they require to buy the solar systems is targeting to sell 100,000 solar systems in the next five years [...]