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…

Foreign investors flee NSE for bullish Nigerian exchange Investors are exiting the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) for the higher yielding Nigerian bourse, piling more pressure on the weak Kenyan shilling. The indicative NSE 20 share index has been on a downward trend while the Nigerian 30 share index has…

James Ndegwa to stay at NIC Bank amid conflict of interest fears Newly appointed Capital Markets Authority (CMA) chairman James Ndegwa Thursday said he will not resign as chairman of listed NIC Bank to avert conflict of interest as demanded by critics. NIC Bank owns stock market intermediaries, including…

Exchange rate slide pushes shilling past 95 units mark The shilling on Tuesday crossed the 95 units to the US dollar level, continuing a losing streak with forex traders predicting a further drop to 98 units to the dollar by end of year. A weaker currency and its effect…

CBK spends Sh51bn in four months to prop weak shilling The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) foreign exchange reserves have contracted by Sh51 billion ($545 million) in the past four months as dollars were used to shore up the shilling and for debt servicing. The shilling exchange rate has already…

Home Afrika says 2014 profit to fall by a quarter Kenyan property developer Home Afrika Ltd said on Friday its 2014 profit would be at least 25 per cent lower than the previous year, hurt by a delay in developing its infrastructure projects during…

Britam posts 23pc jump in 2014 after-tax profit Financial services group British-American Investments Company Limited (Britam) has announced an after tax profit of Sh2.8 billion for the year ended December 31 2014, up 23 per cent from Sh2.3 billion the previous year. Group Managing Director explained that the key…

New Kenyan law to ease revenue payments set for next year Kenyans will have to wait for at least a year to have a new Income Tax Act. The new Act is intended to, among other things, simplify payments to the revenue authority, remove exemptions and broaden the tax…

TransCentury, BAT top listed firms with diversified boards The analysis of the listed companies’ boards commissioned by New Faces New Voices (Kenya) was done by research firm Think Business, as a way of  improving corporate governance in Kenya’s listed firms. TransCentury Limited  and BAT are the leading companies in board diversification among…

News items you should note this morning: Suppliers on the spot as KRA re-introduces withholding tax Kenya has re-introduced the withholding value added tax in a move seen as targeted at the thousands of suppliers to government that have evaded the tax since September last year. The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA)…