Foreign investors flee NSE for bullish Nigerian exchange

Investors are exiting the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) for the higher yielding Nigerian bourse, piling more pressure on the weak Kenyan shilling. The indicative NSE 20 share index has been on a downward trend while the Nigerian 30 share index has seen an upward swing. StratLink attributed the bear run at the NSE to corporate outcomes falling below investor expectations. Earlier in the year investors had exited the Nigerian market in favour of Nairobi due to election jitters in the West Africa State [...]

Interbank rate hits 10.4 per cent on squeezed liquidity

The cost at which banks lend to each other overnight has risen steadily in the past eight months, surpassing 10 per cent last week. The markets have experienced squeezed liquidity since March when the government raised Sh50 billion in two tranches through an infrastructure bond. The other factor cited as contributing to the persistent low liquidity was the slow spending by the national and county governments, which led to money remaining in CBK vaults rather than getting distributed in the banking system [...]

Safaricom drops below Sh17 for first time in three weeks

Safaricom has dropped below Sh17 for the first time in three weeks on foreigners selling off and investors eyeing higher money market interest rates. The share was expected to head north after the company announced a 38 per cent increase in profit last week and launched its own TV set-top boxes. The stock is said to be going through a recovery process as its performance had already been factored in before it released its financial results [...]

Zuku opens pay-TV turf war after Safaricom’s set box launch

Pay television provider Zuku has sparked a turf war with its rivals, signalling a fresh battle for customers following Safaricom’s entry into the TV market. Zuku offers its satellite decoders at Sh3,999 compared to StarTimes at Sh4,500 while Bamba retails at Sh3,299.  Other than satellite, Zuku also offers it services through fibre. DStv ,on the other hand, has called for a press conference today in which it is expected to announce price cuts for its decoders—in yet another signal of shifts triggered by Safaricom’s entry into the market [...]

CMA to manage Discount Securities until November

Collapsed stockbroker Discount Securities will remain under statutory management for six more months, a court has ordered. The High Court sitting in Nairobi extended the period to the beginning of November on April 20, according to a notice in the dailies Monday. It has been under the management of the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) since it collapsed in 2009 [...]

Jamii Telecoms owner builds Sh1bn Eldoret maize mill

Jamii Telecoms owner Joshua Chepkwony has built a Sh1 billion Eldoret-based milling company with a capacity to process 3,000 bags of maize per day. It will start by producing maize flour, poultry, animal and fish feeds. The second phase of the project will include wheat flour processing [...]

KQ cargo unit wins Africa award for third year in a row

Kenya Airways’ cargo unit has for the third year in a row won the best African airline award by a leading global publication, the second such accolade in the past two months [...]

KRA blames court registry mix-up in Bamburi tax appeal case

The Kenya Revenue Authority has denied that it filed an appeal against a tribunal ruling in a Sh274 million tax dispute with Bamburi Cement outside the 30-day period prescribed by law. KRA says it filed the suit against Bamburi in time but a mix-up at the court registry saw it issued with a receipt two days later, which was outside the 30-day appeal grace period. The taxman wants to overturn the KRA tribunal’s decision to exempt Bamburi from the tax on insurance compensation for losses [...]