Seven bank stocks touch one-year low at NSE trading

Seven banking counters at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday touched a one-year low as the market responded to the sudden closure of Imperial Bank leading to the indicative NSE 20 share index dropping to levels last seen in early 2011. Barclays, Diamond Trust Bank, Housing Finance, NIC, Standard Chartered and Co-operative Bank were all trading at a one-year low [...]

Centum in Sh1.2bn injection into K-Rep shareholder cash call

Centum has injected Sh1.2 billion into K-Rep Bank, taking its majority share in the bank’s ongoing rights issue expected to be concluded by end of the year. The equity injection, which now raises K-Rep Bank’s core capital to Sh3.8 billion, was sourced from the proceeds of a Sh6 billion corporate bond that Centum floated in July. Centum is the is majority shareholder of K-Rep Bank [...]

Mystery surrounds Imperial Bank closure as CBK keeps mum

Mystery and speculation surrounds the closure of Imperial Bank following the regulator’s failure to provide specific details on what precipitated the fall. Speculation is rife on what is likely to be the next bank to fall given that Imperial Bank looked healthy prior to the action by the CBK. Market fears were evident on Tuesday’s trading at the NSE when share price of 10 out of the 11 listed commercial banks fell, with analysts [...]

Oil discovery fuels economic changes in Turkana towns

Mineral creates opportunities for residents as investor influx creates demand for goods and services in the once sleepy county. The turning point came with discovery of oil at Ngamia 1 in Lokichar Basin — previously the epicentre of cattle rustling and conflict — three years ago. The oil discovery has now turned pastoralists into property investors and Turkana is seeing an influx of foreigners, a new crop of visitors who can pay for accommodation and sleep in guesthouses [...]

UK-based firm picks Kenyan director ahead of listing

St Paul’s, a UK-based property company, has appointed Vincent Rague as director ahead of its listing on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE). Mr Rague is a co-founder of private equity firm Catalyst Principal Partners and has experience in investments and development finance [...]

Sh58bn deposits locked in Imperial Bank shutdown

The Central Bank of Kenya’s (CBK) decision to place Imperial Bank under statutory management effectively removed Sh58 billion from circulation, raising queries over its possible impact on liquidity in the money markets. Imperial Bank is classified as a mid-tier lender that ranked 17 in the industry and has operations in Kenya and Uganda [...]

Uchumi sacks 900 Uganda, Tanzania staff

Uchumi Supermarkets on Wednesday sent home 900 staff in Uganda and Tanzania after closing 11 loss-making outlets. The retail chain said the decision was made to cut losses as the affected branches had been relying on revenue generated by Kenyan outlets to finance their operations. Tanzania had six outlets while Uganda had five [...]

Jambojet raises flights on the Eldoret route to twenty per week

Kenya Airways’ budget carrier Jambojet has increased its flights on the Eldoret route to 20 per week from the current 13. The low-cost airline will have an additional flight daily increasing the scheduled flights to three per day except Sundays when it will have two flights [...]