As Kenya Power Share Price Dims, Banks Lift NSE Turnover

On the day Kenya Power issued a profit warning, the listed firm saw its share price plunge 11.46% in the red, finishing the day as the biggest loser in trading at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE).

From a share price of Ksh3.49 that was posted on the previous day, Kenya Power ended trading at the bourse on September 19 at 40cents lower, to close at Ksh3.09.

The market however endured a resurgence in turnover, as the NSE witnessed a soar to Ksh1 billion, following the Ksh332 million that was posted yesterday.

Spike in turnover came about from a hike in sale of Barclays Bank and Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Group shares dominating the day’s trading.

In terms of volumes, Barclays led the day on 13 million shares exchanging hands, of the total 38.8 million shares that were traded on the day. During the previous trading session, the NSE volumes stood at 19 million shares.

KCB traded 11.8 million shares valued at Ksh472 million changing hands at between Ksh39 and Ksh40.30.

Kenya Power had issued a profit warning on September 19, stating that its net earnings for the financial year ended June 30 are projected to decline by more than 25% compared to the same period of review last year.

The electricity supply firm attributed the expected drop to an increase in non-fuel costs in line with the company’s long-term strategy of generating cheaper and cleaner renewable energy. Last year, the company issued a similar warning and ended up posting a 63.7% decline in net profit to Ksh 1.92 billion, which it attributed to increased power purchase and higher finance costs despite an increased customer base that saw its revenue rising by 4.23% to Ksh 125.8 billion.

NSE Sectors and Indicators

Elsewhere at the NSE, the indices performed as such,

• All Share Index NASI edged down 0.08 points to stand at 144.22.
• NSE 20 share Index was down 5.17 points to stand at 2426.48.
• NSE 25 Share index added 2.43 points to settle at 3460.77.

The Banking Sector had shares worth Ksh826 million transacted which accounted for 81.61% of the day’s traded value. Equity Group Holdings remained steady at Ksh37.95 with shares worth Ksh141.9 million transacted.

The Insurance sector had shares worth Ksh91.7 million traded which accounted for 9.06% of the day’s traded value. Kenya-Re exchanged 4.6M shares valued at Kes.13.5M at between Ksh2.89 and Ksh2.96.

The Manufacturing and Allied sector had shares worth Ksh91.7 million traded & accounted for 9.06% of the day’s traded value. E.A Breweries had 441,000 shares valued at Ksh88 million transacted at between Ksh199 and Ksh205.

In the Telecommunication Sector, Safaricom moved 2.7 million shares valued at Ksh74.8 million at between Ksh27.15 and Ksh27.50. The giant telco’s activity represented 7.39% of the day’s traded value.