Revenue grows but falling stock values hit Britam’s bottomline

Kenyan insurer British American Investments (Britam) saw its profit after tax for the first half of the year fall dramatically to Sh625 million, down from Sh2.75 billion in the same period last year. Pretax profit fell to Sh1 billion, hurt by lower valuations of the companies it has invested in, it said on Friday. Britam posted an unrealized loss of Sh843 million on the value of its financial assets — shares it holds in other companies — compared with an unrealized gain of Sh2.86 billion in the same period last year…[...]

Standard Group issues warning on 2015 profit

The Standard Group said on Friday it expected its full-year earnings to be at least 25 per cent lower than last year, hurt by disruptions from a countrywide digital migration of television signals. Television stations, including one belonging to Standard Group, were off air for 19 days in February after the government switched off all analogue signals, leading to advertising losses for media companies, analysts said…[...]

Study set to harmonize mobile cash transfer fees in East Africa

The central banks of four East African countries are conducting a study that will set the baseline for money transfer fees across the region. Heads of state in Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and South Sudan in a June directive ordered individual bank regulators to study money flows in mobile platforms and state how harmonization of the rates could affect the flow…[...]

Free trade deal worries farmers

Maize farmers in Trans Nzoia County are a worried lot owing to the national government’s commitment to strengthen the East African trade protocol that allows free trade. Growers who spoke in Kitale on Friday said the unrestricted trade area has destabilized the price of maize in the country owing to flooding of the market with cheap grain from Uganda…[...]

Sh39,000 claim against StanChart balloons into billions for bankers

Banks on Thursday lost another round in the fight to stop a case that could see them pay customers billions of shillings in refund for account charges levied since 1989. High Court Judge, Mr Justice Francis Gikonyo, on Thursday allowed several clients to be enjoined in the suit and directed their lawyers to file documents to support their case. The case was filed by Ms Rose Florence Wanjiru against Standard Chartered Bank in 2003. Ms Wanjiru asked StanChart to refund her Sh38,960, which she said was illegally levied by the bank…[...]

MPs throw out Sh5bn core capital rule

Deputy Minority Leader Jakoyo Midiwo on Thursday staged a late amendment to the Banking Act, throwing out a proposed change that would have forced banks to increase their core capital over the next three years to Sh5 billion. The Finance, Planning and Trade committee had earlier in the day presented amendments siding with the National Treasury recommendations that favoured increase in core capital. The National Treasury had proposed that banks raise their core capital to Sh2 billion by December 2016, Sh3.5 billion by December 2017 and Sh5 billion by December 2018…[...]