Why Britam restated its profit after declaration

Investment firm Britam has said the recent downward revision of its 2014 profit by Sh342.3 million came out of an erroneous accounting of its ownership of a 21.4-acre piece of land in Ngong’.Bramer Properties Limited, a fully owned Britam subsidiary, acquired the land in 2013 at a cost of Sh327.6 million. Britam says the restatement of its profit came after it realised that any gains arising from Bramer should not have entered its profit and loss accounts as share of profit from an associate [...]

Tax cut seen boosting packaging firms

The cost of packaging for industries is expected to fall following a significant reduction in tax on imported intermediate paper.Kenyan paper converters and manufacturers – and by extension consumers – have paid a steep price due to the 25 per cent duty retained largely to support the collapsed Webuye-based Panafrican Paper Mills.Converters have lost business to Tanzanian counterparts who enjoy zero rate on raw material imports [...]

Rotich hands loss-making firms 10-year tax break in Budget

The period companies can record losses without paying income tax could be extended to 10 years from the current five, if proposals made by Treasury secretary Henry Rotich are passed.Tax experts welcomed the proposal saying there are many companies which have made huge capital investments that take years before returns are realized [...]

22 banks hit by new capital requirement

About 22 banks will be affected by Treasury secretary Henry Rotich’s proposal to raise minimum capital to Sh5 billion in the next three years.The affected lenders include K-Rep, Habib, Oriental, UBA Kenya, Victoria and Equatorial commercial banks which will have to either make shareholders’ cash calls, merge or sell equity stakes to comply with the law [...]

KCB and I&M sucked in road contractor’s receivership suit

KCB and I&M banks have been sucked into a dispute between Bank of Africa (BOA) and the construction firm that is linked to suspended Transport secretary Michael Kamau’s troubles with the anti-graft watchdog.Kundan Singh Construction Company (KSC) has filed a fresh suit in which it has sued the three lenders as it fights off BOA’s decision to place it under receivership over a disputed $5.2 million (Sh503 million) loan [...]

Gateway Insurance wins Sh370m City Hall claim

The High Court has ordered City Hall to pay Gateway Insurance Sh370 million arising from a 16-year old claim for unpaid medical cover provided to the defunct Nairobi City Council between 1996 and 1999 [...]

Simba, Erin push on with petrol search

Two exploration firms say they will go ahead with oil and gas prospecting in Kenya despite the sharp drop in crude prices.Simba Energy of Canada and Texas-based Erin Energy (formerly Camac Energy) have separately said they will stick to their plans for northern Kenya blocks [...]