StanChart earnings dip 28 per cent on bad loans

Standard Chartered Bank Kenya recorded a 28 per cent drop in net profit in the first quarter ended March, as bad debts took a toll on its earnings. StanChart reported a net profit of Sh1.8 billion in the three months compared to Sh2.5 billion a year earlier. This makes it the second major lender to announce a profit drop after CfC Stanbic whose net earnings fell by a similar margin to Sh1.1 billion between January and March [...]

CMA will now allow corporate bond holders to lend them out

Corporate note holders including insurance companies and pension funds will be allowed to lend them to other investors who can use and return them at a fee. Investors borrowing the bonds can then earn interest income as indicated in the prospectus of the bonds once they have them back. The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) plans to step up the lending and borrowing of bonds in an effort to raise their turnover at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) by 50 times by the end of next year [...]

Haco declines to press charges against sacked managers

South Africa’s Haco Tiger Brands on Thursday said it had dropped plans to pursue disgraced managers who were involved in an accounting scandal that took place at its Nairobi factory last year. The company said it had instead sealed the loopholes that enabled the sacked managers to hatch the pre-invoicing scheme that helped them shore up profits and give the impression that they had met their targets last year [...]

Job cuts loom in State firms merger plan

It has emerged that hundreds of State corporations workers are set to lose their jobs in the anticipated merger of parastatals. The secretary to the State Corporations Advisory Committee (SCAC) Jane Mugambi on Thursday said the Treasury is seeking Sh600 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that will be partly used to pay terminal dues to the affected staff [...]

Treasury to borrow Sh219.2bn from local market as revenue falls short

Treasury will borrow more from local institutions than previously planned to finance next year’s budget, amid a drop in tax collections and increase in spending. The State plans to borrow Sh219.2 billion from the domestic market, Sh11 billion higher than revealed in the Budget Policy Statement released in February which sets the spending priorities and revenue sources ahead of the budget.  Increase in local borrowing could raise interest rates but informed by low tax [...]

Investors eye Kericho with cement plant

Rai Cement plans to build a multi-billion cement grinding plant on a 50-acre property located in Kaplelach Village which is about 30 kilometres from Kericho town. The factory has the capacity of producing 730,000 tonnes annually. It will be the first cement grinding plant in the western Kenya region as the others are located in Machakos or at the Coast [...]

Senate picks team to probe troubled Kenya Airways

A select committee of the Senate will conduct its investigations on the challenges facing KQ within three months and make recommendations to salvage the loss-making company. The committee will among other things investigate the leasing and buying of aircraft since 1996 and the role of the alleged off-shore companies in the investment affairs of KQ [...]