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…

Kakuzi Limited was the top gainer at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE). The counter registered a gain of 9.65% to end the day at KES. 284.00. This is a KES 25.00 gain per share. Sameer Africa Limited took the lead as the worst performing share in the exchange. The counter…

Lower oil prices to offer no relief on lending rates Investment managers say low oil prices are unlikely to spur lower lending rates this quarter as the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) is expected to maintain a cautious monetary policy. A survey of 10 fund managers, economists and treasury dealers…

NSE firms owners’ 2014 earnings up by Sh13.4 billion NSE firms have paid Sh13.4 billion more in dividend to shareholders for the 2014 financial year with banks and telecoms operator Safaricom owners topping the list of beneficiaries. Dividend payout for the period between January 2014 and March this year stood at…

Kenya Power outshines energy stocks at NSE The Kenya Power stock is up 18.7 per cent to Sh17.15 year-to-date—carrying on a trend established in 2014—even as power generating firm KenGen has shed three per cent to Sh10. The stock has been among the leading beneficiaries of foreign investor inflows since…

NSE sets stage for counties to raise health funds from Reits The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) has announced it will launch Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) for the health and water sectors in the counties. The NSE said it is ready to launch share units for both income and development…

KCB overtakes Equity Bank in valuation at NSE KCB has grabbed back its position as the most valuable listed lender at the NSE ahead of Equity Bank for the first time in seven months with its share price rallying to an all-time high and Equity slipping. KCB’s closing price of Sh63 a…

Treasury raises Sh24bn from 12-year reopened bond The 12-year Sh25 billion infrastructure bond tap sale (reopening) has raised Sh24 billion, meaning the Treasury has achieved its target of netting Sh50 billion from the issue. All the subscriptions to the bond were accepted and allotted at the same fixed yield rate…

Banks, insurance stocks slow down in first quarter Key sectors at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) including banking and insurance comparably slowed down in the first quarter of the year, with analysts saying declining attraction is depressing share prices. Analysts at Stratlink Africa say financial sector stocks still provide…

Safaricom retains dominance as Airtel subscriber base gets boost Safaricom Ltd retained its pole position in Kenya’s mobile telephony industry with a subscription market share of 67.4 per cent. This is a slight increase of 0.7 per cent from 66.7 per cent recorded in the last quarter. A quarterly…