The Nairobi Securities Exchange closed today’s trading session on an epic note, with marked improvement on the indices and market capitalization. The NSE-20 share index surged by 0.57% to close at 3950.97 points while the NSE All Share Index gained 0.49% to close at 144.44 points. The NSE 25 share index was similarly on an uptrend, gaining 0.53% from yesterday’s close to 4164.55 points. Investors’ wealth expanded by 0.50% to KES 2.031 trillion whilst the equity turnover rescinded by 42.43% to close at KES 0.571 billion. The advancers outweighed the decliners resulting in an A/D ratio of 1.23x.
Listed tea exporters, Williamson Tea Kenya Ltd (NSE: WTK) and Kapchorua Tea Company Ltd (NSE: KAPC) announced their unaudited results for the half year ended 30th September 2015 recording a more than double growth on the profits before tax . Williamson posted a 22% growth on the turnover to KES 1.26Bn against a flat performance from Kapchorua Tea.
This was accounted for by the higher sales volumes and improved net realisations boosted by a weakening shilling against the trading currencies. PBT grew by 110.5% to KES 143.45Mn for Kapchorua Tea, whilst Williamson Tea rose by 126.2% to KES 543.81Mn. Despite the impressive performance, Williamson’s share price dipped by 1.41% while Kapchorua Tea remained unchanged.
Equity Market Highlights
Equity Group Holdings Ltd (NSE: EQTY) was the most actively traded stock today accounting for 31.63% of the total market value traded activity. Kenya Commercial Bank Ltd (NSE: KCB) was the second most active stock, accounting for 26.39% of the days traded value. Liberty Kenya Holdings Ltd (NSE: CFCI) reversed yesterday’s negative momentum, posting the highest gain of 8.60% to close the day at KES 18.95. ARM Cement Ltd (NSE: ARM) advanced by 4.49%, to close at KES 40.75.
Trans-Century Ltd (NSE: TCL) was the biggest loser of the day, plummeting by 4.41% to close at KES 10.85. Longhorn Publishers Ltd (NSE: LKL) was second, declining by 4.30% to close at KES 4.45.