James Ndegwa to stay at NIC Bank amid conflict of interest fears

Newly appointed Capital Markets Authority (CMA) chairman James Ndegwa Thursday said he will not resign as chairman of listed NIC Bank to avert conflict of interest as demanded by critics. NIC Bank owns stock market intermediaries, including NIC Capital and NIC Securities. Mr Ndegwa has stated that CMA had structures regulating how to deal with any potential conflict of interest [...]

Two Equity Bank appointees bow out of Housing Finance board

Two Equity Bank appointees have resigned from the board of Housing Finance (HF), a move that has seen the mortgage financier comply with corporate governance guidelines set by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). David Ansell and Shem Migot Adholla, who were appointed to the board of HF by Equity, did not offer themselves for re-election at the mortgage firm’s recent annual general meeting. This means that HF has now complied with CBK’s prudential guidelines that require at least a third [...]

BAT shareholder wealth falls by Sh33bn

BAT shareholders have seen their worth fall by Sh33 billion since the Sh1,050 peak in October last year as the manufacturer faces a tougher regulatory regime. BAT, which has 100 million issued shares now has a capitalisation of Sh72 billion down from a peak of Sh105 billion at the end of October 2014. Analysts say the company is likely to encounter headwinds from the new tobacco regulations due to come into force on June 5. BAT has however sought court intervention [...]

Bank stocks continue to fall as foreign investors sell off

Bank stocks fell for a second straight day at the NSE, weighed down by foreign investor selling on key sector counters. Eight of the 11 listed banks saw price declines Thursday, with Equity Bank being the main decliner, shedding 3.7 per cent to close the day at Sh45.25. StanChart and KCB shed three and 2.7 per cent respectively to close the day at an average of Sh322 and Sh59 respectively, while Co-operative Bank was down 1.1 per cent at Sh21.75. Safaricom, which Thursday reported a record net profit of Sh32 billion, retreated by 2.3 per cent to close the day at Sh17.15, while trading 19.8 million shares [...]

Lenders yet to effect new pricing system for most bank loans

Less than half of the loans issued by banks are based on the new pricing mechanism, slightly less than two months to the regulatory deadline. CBK data shows only loans amounting to Sh825.8 billion issued by banks and microfinance institutions had been converted to the KBRR framework by end of April compared to a total loan book of Sh2.03 trillion. Banks have started pegging deposit rates on KBRR so as to ensure they protect their interest margins [...]

Home Afrika eyes profit with full stake in projects

Home Afrika plans to take full ownership of future projects to reverse the current arrangement that has seen its minority partners take a relatively larger share of earnings from joint ventures. The strategy shift means the company is expected to raise funds to undertake real estate developments on its own. Its current partners in the various projects have contributed capital or land. Taking full ownership of future projects will, however, see the firm’s shareholders, including those who bought its share at the NSE when it listed in 2013, book the entire profits [...]

NIC Bank records 2pc profit growth weighed down by rising bad loans

NIC Bank recorded a two per cent profit growth in the first quarter, weighed down by a sharp increase in bad debts. NIC net profit in the period stood at Sh993.8 million compared to Sh973.9 million the year before, with provisioning for bad loans more than tripling to Sh421.1 million from Sh118.9 million [...]

Sameer to cede 50pc of tyre business to strategic partner

Sameer Africa is set to close a deal with a strategic investor whom it is betting on to reverse its dwindling fortunes in the tyre production and distribution business. The firm says the deal will see it cede a maximum equity of 50 per cent in the tyre business to the partner [...]