In yesterday’s trading the Barclays Bank of Kenya (BBK) share gained 3.1% to close at KES 13.45 per share. Over the course of the day the share hit KES 13.50, the highest value the share has attained since February 16th this year.
This increase comes a day after the bank announced an increase in quarter one profits to KES 1.96 billion from KES 1.35 billion the year before. The improved share performance may be attributed to this 29% increase in profits. The increase in profits was attributed to increased interest income which increased by 34% to KES 5.2 billion.
Barclays is one of the country’s four largest banks in terms of assets. The positive profits rank it fourth after Equity with KES 2.63 billion, KCB with KES 2.42 billion and Standard Chartered with KES 2.31 billion.
The performance shows that the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) is somewhat efficient as news concerning the bank seems to have had a bearing on the share.
In today’s trading we will continue to observe this counter to see whether the upward trend will continue as the week comes to an end.