Mixed Trends at Nairobi Bourse

Equities

The bourse closed in a mixed trend, as depicted by all the market indicators and the value of transactions.

The Nairobi All Share Index closed Wednesday’s trading session 0.21% higher to 143.93 points. The NSE 20 Share index advanced by  0.12% to close at 3463.22 points while the NSE 25 Share Index lost 0.03% to perch at 3929.57 points.

Market capitalization expanded to KES 2.073 trillion from KES 2.068 trillion registered on Tuesday. Equity turnover was on a downtrend, retracting by 29.56% to close at KES 0.231 billion.  Market breadth, a measure of market performance, indicated that the performance had weakened, with the number of decliners -17 outweighing the number of advancers -13.

Housing Finance Group Limited (NSE: HFCK) released their 2Q16 results, recording 26.3% increase in profit after tax (PAT) to KES 612.55Mn from KES 485.14Mn in 1Q15. Net Interest Income was up 21.8% to KES 2.09Bn from KES 1.71Bn in 2Q15.

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Non-interest income went up by 35.8% to KES 416.94Mn from KES 306.94Mn in 2Q15, the upswing attributable to a 221% increase in other income. Interest expense went up 21.3% to KES 2.41Bn from KES 1.99Bn same period last year.

Operating expenses rose 18.6% y-o-y to KES 5.24Bn partly due the new core banking systems which was commissioned in addition to other business software systems. Loans and advances went up 7.0% to KES 53.46Bn while customer deposits went up 6.2% to KES 39.75Bn on account of increased customer numbers. Housing Finance plans to expand its local presence by end of this year, a move that will see the firm broaden its mortgage lending business as it strives to increase its stake in the credit market.