At today’s trading at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, we will be closely observing the following share counters:

• NIC Bank – Last week the bank received a green light from the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) to conduct a rights issue scheduled to begin in August this year and targeted to raise KES 2.07 billion to finance the bank’s local and regional expansion. The bank’s shares have been on an overall upward trend since April this year, reaching a high of KES 38.00 in May compared to trading in the range of KES 24.00 at the beginning of the year, data from Bloomberg shows. Yesterday the shares gained 0.68 percent to close at KES 36.75 from KES 36.50 last week. As the rights issue nears, we will keep track on the counter’s performance.
• Centum Investment – The investment company’s CEO James Mworia has reduced his shareholding in Centum by more than half, to 0.02 percent as of March this year from 0.05 percent in the same period last year (Business Daily). This could give investors the impression of reduced confidence in the company and affect the share’s performance. We will watch the counter today to see how it fairs.
• East Africa Cables – Yesterday the company announced a 59 percent increase in profit for the six months to June 2012 earning 274 million shillings from 172.3 million shillings in the same six month period last year according to a statement on the company’s website. This month the share has shown declined performance, trading below KES 11.00 which it has traded above for the most of the six months to June this year. We will observe the counter to see how the improved profit announcement affects its performance.