BAT Kenya’s share down on foreigner exits, stringent law

BAT Kenya’s share has shed gains made in May as foreigners exited against a background of shilling volatility and a tougher regulatory regime which slapped a two per cent tax on local sales from last Friday.Foreign investors have this year pulled out Sh600 million from the BAT counter.BAT’s saving grace is likely to come from the contract manufacturing and sales business which will not be affected by the new laws [...]

Chinese firm signs Sh96bn contract for Lamu coal-fired electricity plant

Amu Power Company, a consortium bringing together firms like Gulf Energy and Centum Investment, said it had signed the deal with Power Construction Corporation of China. Construction of the 981.5 megawatt plant is expected to start on September 30 and will take 21 months to produce electricity at 7.52 dollar cents per kilowatt hour, almost a third of the price for diesel-fired plants.The consortium has recently sought to win over Lamu leadership, amid claims by civil society activists that the coal project would damage the fragile ecosystem [...]

NSE 20 share index sheds 22.63 points

The index shed 22.63 points to stand at 4761.44 while the All Share Index (NASI) fell by 1.25 points to stand at 162.53.The main index, NSE 20, is now 6.96 per cent down compared to the beginning of the year, illustrating the extent to which the market has felt the effect of the controversial capital gains tax and departure of foreign investors.The NSE players have recently said they are experiencing jitters because of the uncertainty surrounding who between brokers and investors should implement the CGT.Another factor cited as responsible for the fall of the NSE is the attractiveness of the Egyptian and Nigerianstock markets [...]

Chase Bank takes up Sh4.5bn of oversubscribed bond issue

The Chase Bank corporate bond has attracted over Sh6 billion worth of subscriptions, more than doubling the target set for the first tranche.Chief executive Paul Njaga on Monday said the bank will take Sh4.5 billion and no more subscriptions would be accepted for the first tranche.The Sh10 billion corporate bond has a seven-year tenure and is aimed at helping strengthen the bank’s capital base and financing its expansion [...]

Tanzania drives Kenyan banks profit as South Sudan falters

Kenyan banks' regional subsidiaries registered combined profit before tax of Sh5.5 billion in 2014 compared to Sh5.2 billion the previous year, with Tanzania accounting for 32 per cent of the total earnings.Tanzania has turned out to be a rich hunting ground for Kenyan banks with subsidiaries in the neighbouring country outperforming South Sudan whose profit contribution to local lenders has been hit by political instability in the young nation [...]

CEOs admit firms cooking books

More than a fifth of Kenyan executives have admitted to the existence of financial reports manipulation in their firms, turning the spotlight on the state of corporate governance in East Africa’s largest economy.Financial reports manipulation is mainly driven by pressure to meet ambitious targets in an increasingly competitive environment [...]