Longhorn Publishers Set to Increase Capital Through Rights Issue

At the close of trading on Wednesday, the market picked up steam closing at an impressive note. The NSE 20 Share index recorded a gain of 0.29% to close at 3989.87 points while the NSE All Share Index went up by 0.51% to close at 144.21 points.

The NSE 25 share index similarly garnered 0.30% from yesterdays close to 4177.57points. Market capitalization expanded by 0.51% to KES 2,028.53Billion whilst the equity turnover surged by 36.85% to close at KES 0.503Billion. Market breadth, a measure of market performance, indicated that the market performance had improved, with the advancers- 22 outweighing the number of decliners- 14.

Longhorn Publishers Group Ltd (NSE LKL) is set to increase its share capital in a rights issue intended to boost its balance sheet. The Publisher will seek approval from shareholders during its upcoming AGM on 21st December 2015 in efforts to increase its total number of shares from 146.25Mn to 785.5Mn. The proceeds will be used in investing in regional expansion, launching new products and developing a proprietary e- learning platform.

The rights issue comes at a time when the publisher registered a 30.12% decline in their gross profit to KES 474.45 million as turnover declined by up to 39.26% to KES 848.38 million. The poor performance was mainly attributed to a decline in sales from regional book purchases mostly originating from Uganda and Tanzania.

Equity Market Highlights

Equity Group Holdings Ltd (NSE: EQTY) was the most actively traded stock today accounting for 34.77% of the total market value traded activity. East African Breweries Ltd (NSE: EABL) was the second most active stock, accounting for 29.59% of the days traded value.

E.A Portland Ltd (NSE: PORT) topped the gainers chart, posting the highest gain of 9.89% to close the day at KES 50.00.Uchumi Supermarket Ltd (NSE: UCHM) soared by 8.97%, to close at KES 7.90.

Eaagads Ltd (NSE: EGAD) was the top loser of the day, retracting by 10.00% to close at KES 22.50. Atlas Development & Support Services Ltd (NSE: ADSS) was second, losing 8.57% to close at KES 1.60.