I&M Holdings in deal to acquire Giro Bank

I&M Holdings Ltd (IMHL) has reached an agreement to buy out tier III lender Giro Commercial Bank in a deal that will see I&M grow its asset base by Sh16.2 billion. IMHL, which is listed at the NSE, announced Thursday that upon completion, the acquisition will result in the immediate absorption of Giro’s banking business into I&M Bank Ltd, IMHL’s flagship subsidiary. The two banks, however, did not disclose the financial size of the deal, which is still subject to approvals from Central Bank of Kenya, the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) and the respective shareholders.

Paris-based re-insurer gets clearance to enter Kenya

Paris-based global reinsurance firm SCOR is to enter the Kenyan market after getting regulatory approval by the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA). The move is expected to increase competition in the regional reinsurance business where premiums are also collected by firms without a local presence. SCOR is entering the regional reinsurance market whose growth is being driven by an expanding insurance industry, emerging insurance opportunities in oil and gas, and infrastructure projects.

Banks sign workers’ pay pact, avert strike

Banking sector workers on Thursday signed a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with their employers, raising their pay and other employment terms for the next two years. The bankers had reached an agreement on Thursday last week but had not yet signed the CBA, which is legally binding. The signing effectively averted a strike that the Banking Insurance and Finance Union of Kenya (Bifu) had threatened to call. The 43 lenders signed on the various compensation and workrelated terms that the union had asked for in the CBA that is backdated to March and lasts up to February 2017.

NIC extends deal with agency covering enterprise loans

NIC Bank and the African Trade Insurance Agency have agreed to extend their SME loan cover agreement allowing the bank to keep lending to enterprise customers. In February last year the listed bank
became the first local lender to take up the African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) cover, at a time it was looking to raise its SME lending. Under the agreement, NIC would lend up to USD 5million (KES 530
million) per SME client.

Kenya Power cuts use of expensive thermal after regulator’s warning

Kenya Power is using more of cheaper geothermal and hydrogenerated power after the energy regulator warned it to cut reliance on expensive diesel generators, lowering consumer bills. Data from the
Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) shows that the share of costly thermal power dropped to 13.6 per cent last month from 18.6 per cent in July, translating to a cut back of 39.1 million units. The share of geothermal power grew to 46 per cent from 43.5 per cent while hydropower was up 38.9 per cent from 37.6 per cent. The ERC last month faulted the heavy uptake of thermal electricity and directed Kenya Power to revert to a mix that would stop the cost surge.

Kenyan Stock Market

The NSE 20 and NASI index rose 1.83 percent and 1.68 percent w/w to close at 4,210.02 and 146.46.

Turnover, total volumes traded and total market capitalization stood at 4,700.13mn, 144.97mn and KES 2,057.16 respectively at the end of the week

EAC Markets

Uganda: The USE ALSI and USE LSI gained 5.21 percent and 0.24 percent w/w respectively to close at

Rwanda: The RSE ALSI and the RSE RSI declined 0.02 percent and 0.86 percent w/w respectively to close at 141.36 and 189.44

Tanzania: The DSE TSI went down 0.12 percent to close at 4,664.61 while DSE DSEI index went up 1.06 percent w/w to close at 2,524.39.

Global markets

U.S. stock-index futures declined, with equities poised to trim gains in a week of wild swings before a Federal Reserve interest-rate decision next Thursday. Contracts on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 0.5 percent to 1,930 at 8:55 a.m. in New York, after earlier gaining as much as 0.5 percent. The underlying gauge rose 0.5 percent yesterday. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lost 72 points, or 0.4 percent, to 16,133.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index dropped 0.7 percent at 11:20 a.m. in London, having earlier fallen as much as 1.2 percent. It’s still up 1.1 percent this week. After rising for three straight days, European shares fell yesterday as strong U.S. labour data stoked concern about a rate increase.

Asian stock markets look set to end their longest losing streak in four years. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan. MIAPJ0000PUS slipped 0.2 percent to 10,210, but was on for a rise of more than 2.5 percent on the week, its first weekly rise since mid-July and biggest weekly gain in five months.