Banks, insurance stocks slow down in first quarter

Key sectors at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) including banking and insurance comparably slowed down in the first quarter of the year, with analysts saying declining attraction is depressing share prices. Analysts at Stratlink Africa say financial sector stocks still provide the safest bet of a continuation of the market’s Bull Run owing to the good financial performance of the various companies at a time their peers across other segments are reporting depressed earnings [...]

Human resource report paints gloomy picture for NGO sector jobs

Local NGOs have found it difficult to attract funding due to donors such as the European Union cutting back on aid following tough economic times. Proposed legislation such as capping the amount an NGO can receive from foreign donors to 15 per cent is also worsening the industry outlook. Human resource managers at the same time said talent retention and attraction is becoming a major issue and that companies are now offering more than cash benefits to employees [...]

Safaricom sheds Sh28bn as foreign investors sell for profit

Safaricom shed Sh28 billion in value Tuesday closing the day 4.2 per cent lower at Sh15.90 as foreign investors soldthe stock on profit taking. Foreign investors were largely selling Equity, Safaricom, Centum and KenolKobiland buying KCB and Barclays, with their participation at 55 per cent of the day’s turnover,” said a dealer at an investment bank [...]

Bramer Bank reopened ahead of planned State takeover

A Mauritius bank briefly shut by authorities last week after evidence emerged of a massive Ponzi scheme is bank in business and set to go under government control this week. Bramer Bank will be replaced by a new State-owned entity called the National Commercial Bank. Finance minister told Parliament NCB, to be licensed “by the end of the week”, will offer full services. One of Britam’s largest shareholders is related to BAI and there are “common directorships between Britam, BAI and Bramer Bank [...]

Safaricom scraps postpaid credit limit before review

All customers on the Sh1,000 and Sh2,500 Karibu postpaid tariffs will now have to make prepayments if they use up their minutes, text messages or Internet bundles before the month ends [...]

Telkom Kenya plans shutdown of CDMA network by end of April

Kenya’s oldest phone operator Telkom Kenya will at the end of this month switch off its CDMA network that has served as a wireless version of its regular landline service. The move will lead to losses for CDMA phone users since their gadgets will become obsolete given that they are not compatible with the GSM network [...]

Sasini looks to profit boost with Sh1bn land sale

Agricultural firm Sasini is set to sell 513.7 acres of its leasehold land, a transaction that will earn it Sh1 billion and potentially boost earnings in the current financial year. The land sale will be completed through the disposal of its subsidiaries Mweiga Estate and Wahenya Limited which hold 266.7 and 247 acres respectively. The land sale is the latest sell-off seen among companies in which businessman Naushad Merali has significant or controlling interests, signalling a reorganisation of his business empire [...]

Pay for customers of brokerages that collapse to double

Kenya will nearly double the compensation paid to investors who lose money when a brokerage collapses so as to maintain confidence in the stock market. The Investor Compensation Fund (ICF) will pay up to Sh92,000 ($1,000), a substantial increase from the Sh50,000 maximum previously paid to every person who loses cash in the event of the insolvency of the broker. Kenya has been building the compensation fund to buttress its financial standing [...]