Limuru Tea Plc, a listed firm in the agricultural segment of the Nairobi Securities Exchange(NSE), has issued its third consecutive profit warning, indicating that its 2025 net profit expected to fall by over 25% compared to the prior year.
Limuru Tea attributes this decline to rising labour and operational costs – employee wages, factory operations, and transport expenses which have also surged.
Weak tea prices at the Mombasa Tea Auction – global demand pressures and local oversupply have suppressed auction prices, directly impacting revenue of the listed firm.
This development adds Limuru Tea to a growing list of at least 12 NSE-listed companies that have issued profit warnings over the past 12 months, highlighting a tough operating environment for listed firms and Kenyan companies, particularly those in sectors sensitive to commodity prices and inflationary pressures.
Listed firms that have already issued profit drop warnings include CIC Insurance Group, Kenya Airways, Standard Chartered Bank Kenya, Kapchorua and Williamson Tea, Centum Investments, Liberty Kenya Holdings, TPS Eastern Africa (Serena Hotels) Shri Krishana Overseas, Umeme Limited and WPP ScanGroup.
The full extent of the 2025 net profit drops will become apparent beginning March 2025 when listed firms are expected to begin releasing their full year 2025 financials.
Profit warnings often precede short-term share price volatility, as market sentiment reacts to downward earnings revisions.
Rising input costs and weak commodity pricing are key factors to watch for other export-oriented and labour-intensive firms. Apart from Limuru Tea, other firms that have been hit hard by a strong Shilling include major exporters, especially in the agricultural and hospitality industry, where the likes of Kapchorua, Williamson Tea and Serena Group, sit.
Analysts caution investors to monitor Limuru Tea cost management strategies and auction price trends to gauge its recovery potential.
Limuru Tea owns 282 hectares of tea plantations situated four kilometres to the east of Limuru Town.
The listed firm is an out grower to Browns East Africa Plantations PLC(BEAP). BEAP provides management services to Limuru Tea PLC’s in manufacturing, selling and marketing of its tea.
The Limuru Tea estate green tea leaf is manufactured in the nearby Mabroukie factory from where it is sold for export.
The top shareholders of Limuru Tea include Ekaterra Holco UK Limited, which owns 98.56% of Lipton Teas and Infusions Kenya Plc, which holds the majority stake in Limuru Tea. Other shareholders include B Commodities ME(FZE) and Unilever Kenya.
Limuru Tea Share Price Trends
Limuru Tea share price is currently trading at KSh 550 with a 52 week range of KSh 295 to KSh 555. The firm’s market capitalization is currently at KSh 1.32 billion.
Limuru Tea is not the only listed tea exporter that has borne the brunt of a strong Kenya Shilling and a glut in the global tea market.
Williamson and Kapchorua Tea Farm, also listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange(NSE), have posted strong 2025/26 Half Year Earnings despite oversupply and weak demand persisting on the global tea market, leading to low prices.
These two firms are also emerging from adverse profit warnings that they issued on the end year results for period ending 31st March 2025.
Kapchorua saw its Half-Year Net Profits jump 422% to KSh 92.2million, as at September 2025 compared to KSh 18.2 million over a similar period last year. This is against a 24% drop in Revenue from KSh 1.0948 billion in H1 2024 to KSh 829.49 million in H1 2025.
Williamson, on the other hand, pulled back from a Half-Year Net Loss of KSh 122.4 million in September 2024, narrowing to a KSh 10.1 million in September 2025
The firm together with its associate recently concluded a rights issue, boosting activity at these two counters, considered some of the most illiquid at the NSE.
While total revenues of these listed tea firms have been hit by global market conditions, the situation has been worsened by a strong Kenya Shilling Exchange Rate-which has negatively impacted their export revenues.
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