Deacons Kenya Set to List on Nairobi Securities Exchange

Deacons Kenya will on 2nd August 2016 list 123,558,228 shares on the Nairobi Securities Exchange at KES 15 per share by way of introduction on the AIM segment of the exchange.  Deacons operates clothing outlets such as Truworths and Mr Price in four markets; Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Mauritius.

The retailer’s shares have been trading over the counter for the last six years and this is scheduled to end on 25th July 2016. This was realized after the company sold some of its shares to a select number of investors in 2010 through a private offer. Deacons at that time, sold 12,800,000 shares at KES 62.5 each during the private offer aiming to raise KES 800 million. The offer was 87.5% subscribed raising KES 700 million.

Equities

The bourse was characterized by varied trends as portended by the market indicators and the value of transactions. The NSE 20 Share Index reversed trends from Tuesday’s trading closing at 3520.77 points from 3522.98 points.

The NSE All Share index and the NSE 25 Share Index however closed positive, with the former increasing by 0.70% to close at 138.62 points while the latter registered a 0.33% gain closing at 3849.77 points. Shareholders wealth trended north, recording a 0.71% increase to close the day at KES 1.99Trillion. Equity turnover on the other hand plummeted by 6.9% to close at KES 1.09Bn The A/D ratio closed at 0.76x against yesterday’s close of 0.89x, indicating a slight decline.

Currencies

The Kenyan Shilling maintained the upward momentum spurred in the previous trading session, registering rallies against all but two currencies in its basket. Trade remained subdued and investors’ remained cautious, following the International Monetary Fund downwardly revised its projections for global economic growth (in 2016) by one basis point to 3.2%. The local currency weakened against the US Dollar by 0.09% on the day, despite the dollar remaining near four-month highs against other major currencies.

The IMF also cut its U.K. growth forecast by two basis points to 1.7%, and by nine basis points t0 1.3% (for 2017) showing the economic concerns weighing on market sentiment; in which the shilling found favour. During the trading session the shilling rallied by 0.31% against the pound and 0.30% against the Euro, despite upbeat U.K employment data- emphasising the concerns over the ramifications of the Brexit.