EABL half-year profit hits Sh7.7bn on land, bottle plant sale

The sale of land and a glass bottle manufacturing subsidiary has boosted East African Breweries Limited’s half-year net profit by over two-thirds to Sh7.7 billion, making up for currency losses at its South Sudan business. EABL’s net sales for the six months to December grew eight per cent to Sh37.5 billion, buoyed by low-cost beer Senator Keg whose volumes more than doubled following a lowering of excise tax mid-last year [...]

Coffee price hits one-year high on quality of beans

The price of Kenya coffee has gone up by 14 per cent to hit a one-year high on account of high quality beans supply. The high price was last witnessed in February last year and stakeholders are upbeat the new crop coming in from central Kenya will sustain the high price [...]

Kapchorua Tea continues falling on bonus closure

Kapchorua Tea on Thursday recorded a near-maximum allowable 9.9 per cent fall for the second-straight day at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, weighed down by selling pressure in the wake of its closure of books for a bonus issue earlier this month. Williamson Tea joined Kapchorua in recording the largest active price movement in the market—albeit on low volumes [...]

Ethiopia okays NSE-listed Atlas’s glass factory plans

Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) listed Atlas Development & Support Services (ADSS) says it has acquired a licence to build a glass manufacturing plant in Ethiopia. The glass plant will be one of its first operating units after the company closed its Kenyan subsidiaries that are now set for liquidation [...]

Safaricom gets order stopping IT firm from using Okoa Stima name

Safaricom got a temporary court order against an IT firm’s use of the Okoa Stima trademark and name, which the tech company uses to describe mobile-based electricity soft loans similar to another offered by the telco. Colour Planet has successfully registered the Okoa Stima name as a trademark at the Kenya Industrial Property Institute (Kipi) [...]

China firm wins Sh22.6bn tender to build Kipeto wind power plant

Kipeto Energy’s Kajiado-based wind-power project has gathered pace after it awarded a Chinese firm the multi-billion contract to construct the plant. The Kipeto wind power plant will be completed within two years from the date of commissioning which was not disclosed [...]

Union unimpressed by Co-op’s model of placing agents inside banking halls

The bankers’ union has opposed agents transacting business inside banking halls and hinted that other banks are looking at copying the model adopted by Co-operative Bank.
The Banking Insurance and Finance Union of Kenya (Bifu) says the positioning of agents inside Co-op Bank branches contravenes the collective agreement between banks and the union [...]

Mining and oil deals drop by half in East Africa

Deal making in East Africa’s natural resources sector slumped in 2015 due to the falling price of commodities in the international market. The annual financial review by Burbidge Capital shows that the number of deals in the mining, oil and gas sectors halved due to the poor market [...]

Ex-Mumias ICT director demands Sh25m

A former director of the financially troubled sugar miller Mumias is demanding more than Sh25 million in terminal dues, claiming he was sacked unlawfully [...]