NMG maintains dividend payout after Sh1.4bn profit

The Nation Media Group has announced that it will maintain an interim dividend payout of Sh2.50 per share for the half-year to June, same as the amount paid in a similar period last year. NMG’s half-year profit before tax dropped to Sh1.43 billion from Sh1.56 billion posted in the first six months of last year, reflecting significant disruptions to its TV business between February and March at the height of the digital migration stand-off with the regulator…[...]

SEACOM taps former Tata executive for top sales job

Pan-African IT company SEACOM has appointed Steven van der Linde as its chief sales officer. He will be responsible for growing group revenue as well as leading customer engagement and strategic development for SEACOM, which provides IT infrastructure connections. Mr Van der Linde has more than 20 years of sales leadership experience in the African telecoms market…[...]

Consolidated Bank plans cash call to shore up capital

State-owned Consolidated Bank is planning a cash call by the end of the year to boost its capital base currently below regulatory requirements. The bank has asked its owners, who are government agencies, to match the Treasury’s Sh500 million capital injection done last year to avoid being diluted…[...]

Centum gets geothermal plant cover for power plant

Centum Investment geothermal power plant has secured a risk cover from Munich Re, paving the way for funding of the well drilling. The giant German reinsurer said the risk cover is meant to compensate investors in the Akiira One project in case the eight geothermal wells being drilled in the Olkaria, Nakuru County, do not produce enough power. Centum Investments is in a consortium that is developing the $300 million (Sh30 billion) geothermal power project expected to produce 140 megawatts by December 2018…[...]

 Oil and gas explorers in Kenya forecast a rise in licensing fees

Industry players in the oil and gas sector expect the government to raise exploration fees in 2016, says a sector report by PwC. The consultancy’s review 2015 says Kenya is among markets where explorers expect governments to review licensing fees…[...]

New KCC cedes market share to Fresha milk firm

The New Kenya Cooperative Creameries (New KCC) has lost its position as Kenya’s second-biggest dairy by market share to Githunguri Dairy Farmers Cooperative, processor of the Fresha milk brand. Kenya Dairy Board data (KDB) for the first half of the year to June shows Brookside Dairy is still Kenya’s biggest milk processor by market share, but the top three companies are increasingly ceding their market dominance to smaller firms which together now control 31 per cent of the pie…[...]

CBK, Treasury differ on drive to create big banks

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has differed with the Treasury on the proposed increase of commercial bank core capital to Sh5 billion, saying it would lead to rushed consolidations and make big banks more dominant. Patrick Njoroge, the CBK governor, told Parliament to stop the proposed increase of bank capital from Sh1 billion to Sh5 billion in the next three years and instead push for smart regulation of banks…[...]