First of all, my sincere apologies for the timing of this article. The article was supposed to come up yesterday following the Pesa Portfolio update. These changes are effective from yesterday Tuesday 22 May 2012 and from today's Pesa Portfolio update will be reflected.

That aside, following the performance of our portfolio over the last few days, we have decided to make the following changes to the portfolio:

Mumias Sugar: We will continue to hold all our 2,700 shares in the sugar producer. The share has been quite active in the last month and the share has performed quite well and we believe it still has potential to appreciate in value.

KCB: We are selling our remaining 500 shares in the bank following a dip in its performance of late. The share had been on the up and we had anticipated upward pressure on the share prices leading to gains in the portfolio value but following a short stint upwards, the share looks to have taken a negative turn.

500 x 23.50 = KES 11,750

Actual proceeds   = KES 11,750 x 0.97 (to remove transaction costs) = KES 11,397.50

Housing Finance: The Housing Finance share has been a solid buy for us. It has had slight improvements in the share price and we will maintain our holdings in the share. This will also serve to maintain our footing in the banking segment of the NSE.

Barclays Bank of Kenya: As suggested above, following the subdued performance of the share of late, we have decided to sell our stake in BBK. This will leave us with Housing Finance as our only investments in the banking segment of the NSE.

800 x 13.60 = KES 10,880

Actual proceeds = KES 10,880 x 0.97 (to remove transaction costs) = KES 10,553.60

Kengen: We will hold our stake in Kengen Limited as it is. We feel the share possesses potential to generate good returns in the short term.

Kenya Re: We have decided to sell all our equity in Kenya’s sole reinsurance firm. The share had been increasing steadily for a few weeks now but, as we analysed on Pesatalk, the share seems to have maxed out.

1200 x 12.35 = KES 14,820

Actual proceeds = KES 14,820 x 0.97 = KES 14,375.40

Crown Berger: The Crown Berger share has proved to be a solid buy thus far. We will increase our holdings in Crown Berger by 400 shares from 600 to 1,000 shares.

400 x 26 = KES 10,400

Actual cost = KES 10,400 x 1.03 (including transaction costs) = KES 10,712

Uchumi Supermarket: Uchumi has been a good buy for the portfolio. We have decided to increase our holdings in the retail chain by 1,300 shares from 200 to 1,500 shares.

1,300 x 18.5 = KES 24,050

Actual cost = KES 14,050 x 1.03 (including transaction costs) = KES 24,771.50

Total sales = KES 11,397.50 + KES 10,553.60 + KES 14,375.40 = KES 36,326.50

Total purchases = KES 10,712 + KES 24,050 = KES 34,762

Balance = KES 36,326.50 - KES 34,762 = KES 1,564.50