Kenya Power on the Spot Over Rising Electricity Cost

Kenya Power on the spot over rising electricity cost

Electricity distributor Kenya Power has come under scrutiny from the energy sector watchdog for making operational decisions that have significantly increased the cost of power to consumers in the past two
months. The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) says Kenya Power’s decision to increase the intake of expensive diesel-fired electricity to the national grid is negating its promise to keep power costs down.

Mumias Sugar in more trouble with losses past KES3bn

Troubled sugar maker Mumias has sunk deeper into losses, triggering yet another profit warning. The management expects it to record losses of at least KES3.4 billion this year, more than 25 percent higher than the KES2.7 billion posted last year. It attributed the fall to shortage of cane. It has been struggling with a cash crunch that forced the government to give it a KES1 billion bailout.

BOC Gases’ half year net profit down 24 percent

Industrial gases producer BOC reported a 24 percent decline in net profit for the half-year ended June, driven by lower sales as the firm faced increased competition from imported products. Its net profit in
the period stood at KES65.1 million compared to KES85.6 million a year earlier. BOC maintained an interim dividend declaration of KES2.2 per share despite the profit dip

Pan Africa’s profit drops 32.4 percent on Gateway buyout

Pan Africa Insurance has announced a 32.4 percent drop in half-year net profit weighed down by its newly-acquired subsidiary Gateway Insurance, which reported a loss during the period. Pan Africa
completed the buyout of a 51 percent stake in Gateway for KES600 million in March, gaining a foothold in the general insurance business.

NIC Bank half-year profit up 9.8percent

NIC Bank Group has reported a 9.8 percent jump in net profit for the six months to June driven by interest income on loans. The lender announced that its half-year net profit stood at KES2.24 billion, having increased from KES2.04 billion reported during a similar period last year. NIC Bank’s performance was lifted by interest income which grew 19.2 percent to stand at KES6.41 billion, corresponding with an uptick in net loans and advances to KES108.3 billion from KES91.5billion in 2014.

Standard Chartered net profit drops 36 percent on bad loans load

Standard Chartered Bank’s rising load of non-performing loans has pulled down its net profit for the six months to June by 36 percent and seen the lender overtaken by two of its peers. The lender reported that its half-year net profit dropped to KES3.9 billion from last year’s KES6.06 billion, as its loan loss provision increased 51.2 percent to KES1.3 billion. Standard Chartered increased provisioning is despite the fact that gross non-performing loans during the period went down 42.8 percent to KES8.34 billion, while net loans dropped by KES8.45 billion to KES123.5 billion.

Kenyan Stock Market

The NSE 20 and NASI index declined 2.02 percent and 1.60 percent w/w to close at 4,405.29 and 149.66.
Turnover, total volumes traded and total market capitalization stood at 7,387.04mn, 212.42 and KES 2,098.84 respectively at the end of the week.

EAC Markets

Uganda: The USE ALSI and USE LSI lost 2.14 percent and 0.81 percent w/w respectively to close at 1,906.81 and 349.49.

Rwanda: The RSE ALSI and the RSE RSI declined 0.36 percent and 2.10 percent w/w respectively to close at 141.83 and 193.21

Tanzania: The DSE TSI and DSE DSEI index shed off 0.86 percent and 0.34 percent w/w respectively to close at 2,579.71 and 4,595.96

Global markets

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 2.06 percent to 16,990.69, the S&P 500 lost or 2.11 percent to 2,035.73 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.82 percent to 4,877.49.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 1.7 percent and is headed for its worst three-day rout in more than two years. The selloff that erased U.S. stock gains for the year and pulled Chinese shares down dragged
European equities.

Asian stocks headed for their worst week since September 2011 as Indonesia, Hong Kong and Taiwan entered bear markets. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index sank 2.3 percent to 131.18 headed for its lowest
close since February 2014 and a 5.1 percent weekly decline.