National Bank Postpones Regional Expansion

Equities

The bourse closed on a positive note during Tuesdays’ trading session with all the indices pointing north. The NSE-20 Share Index garnered 0.49% to close at 3987.57 points whilst the NSE-25 Share Index edged up by 0.12% to close at 4166.36 points.

The Nairobi All Share Index (NASI) followed suit, advancing marginally by 0.12% to close at 144.94 points. Market capitalization extended by 0.13% to close at KES 2,038.93 Billion. Equity turnover appreciated significantly by 133.05% to close at KES 1.197 Billion. The A/D ratio improved, with the advancers- 20 outweighing the decliners-12, resulting in an A/D ratio of 1.67x.

Tier 2 lender, National Bank of Kenya (NSE: NBK) has considered shelving any portended regional expansion in a bid to avoid squeezing its capital requirement ratios. This comes after the bank’s plans to seek new capital through a cash call was suspended by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA). On a positive note, the bank has some headroom to grow their asset base by KES 13 billion which is equivalent to 0.9% in terms of total capital to total risk-weighted assets. The bank posted net profit of KES 2.25 billion for the period ended September 2015, of which they intend to retain some of the earnings in order to boost their total capital and grow the balance sheet organically.

Equity Market Highlights

Kenya Commercial Bank Ltd (NSE: KCB) was the most actively traded stock accounting for 32.80% of the total
market activity. Equity Group Ltd (NSE: EQTY) closed in second, accounting for 27.93% of the days traded value.

Nation Media Group Ltd (NSE: NMG) was the biggest gainer, surging up by 7.78% to close the day at KES 194.00. Longhorn Publishers Ltd (NSE: LKL) appreciated by 6.41%, to close the day as the second best gainer at KES 4.15.

National Bank of Kenya Ltd (NSE: NBK) was the top loser of the day, retreating by 6.67% to close the day at KES 14.00. Trans-century Ltd (NSE: TCL) trailed behind, dipping by 5.48% to KES 6.90.