At 3.10 pm today when the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) closed, Marshalls East Africa Limited (MASH) was the top gainer. The motor vehicle seller rose 8.70% to KES 10.00 compared to yesterday’s close of KES 9.20. While newly listed Flame Tree Group Holdings Limited (FTGH) was the top decliner, shedding 9.66% to KES 10.75 from KES 11.90 on Monday.
Read: Flame Tree Group Impresses On Its First Day At The NSE
In the 1980s Marshalls was THE company. It held the franchise for Peugeot at a time when the iconic Peugeot 504 was in vogue. The 504 served as a long distance public service vehicle, plying routes such as Meru-Nairobi and Eldoret-Nairobi. It was the car of choice for the ‘flying squad’ police unit and the Criminal Investigations Department as well as the Kenyan bourgeoisie. Its high ground clearance meant that it was naturally adapted for African driving conditions. Marshalls as the vehicle seller made billions in profit. However as the cheaper electronic fuel injection replaced carburettors in vehicle engines, 504 sales began to dwindle and today Marshalls’ is a very different story.
Read: Peugeot 504
Since 2008, Marshall’s has only declared profits once. The company made losses of KES 170M, KES 117M and KES345 million from 2008 to 2010. In 2011 it made a profit of 182 million before slipping into losses agin for 2012 and 2013. It lost 165M in the year ended March 2012, 110M in 2013 and was at a loss of KES 2.5 million in March this year.
In fact the 2008 profit could mostly be attributed to the KES 401 million waiver on a loan that the company’s former principal Ketan Somaia had borrowed from KCB. Somaia was jailed for 8 years this year by a court in the United Kingdom for obtaining money by false pretences. The company is now associated with Kamlesh Pattni of the Goldenberg scandal.
Despite progress towards returning to profitability as illustrated by the numbers above, Marshall’s still faces major challenges. The company is locked in a dispute with the Kenya Revenue Authority over a KES 17 million claim. The automobile dealer lost its Peugeot franchise to Urysia in 2007 and Tata in its last financial year, leaving only KIA motors in its vehicle stable.
Marshall’s shares trade on thin volumes, for example today only 500 of its shares changed hands. Since January the counter’s share price performance is given below:
The winners:
The other top gainers were: KenolKobil Limited (KENO), CFC Bank Limited (CFC), Car And General Kenya Limited (C&G), and Olympia Capital Holdings Limited (OCH). They closed at KES 9.00, 124.00, 60.00 and 6.70 respectively.
Read: NSE Closing Bell: Kenol Kobil Among Top Gainers
The losers:
The other counters that shed the most value were: East African Portland Cement Company (PORT), Express Kenya Limited (XPRS), TPS Eastern Africa Limited – Serena Hotels-(TPS) and Carbacid Investments Limited (CARB). They ended the day at KES 58.00, 6.50, 37.00 and 21.50 respectively.
Most shares traded:
Mumias Sugar Company Limited (MSC), Safaricom Limited (SCOM), The Kenya Power & Lighting Company Limited (KPLC), Co-operative Bank Of Kenya Limited (COOP), and I&M Holdings Limited (I&M). Over 4.26 million Mumias shares changed hands today representing 24.7% of all shares traded.
Indices
Both the NSE 20 share index and the NSE All Share Index (NASI) appreciated today. Gaining 0.46% and 0.52%, each closed at 5,098.40 and 160.31 respectively.