Centum Investment Company Posts HY pre-tax profit Ksh2.76 B

Centum Investment Company has recorded a 22.8 percent rise in profit before tax of Ksh 2.76 billion compared to Ksh 2.25 billion in the previous period.

The Group’s profit after tax was up by 7.9% to Ksh 2.06 billion compared to Ksh 1.91 billion in the previous period attributed to consolidation of Longhorn Publishers financial results and lower finance costs as a result of reduced forex losses on the US dollar denominated borrowing and capitalization of interest during construction for the Groups real estate projects.

Centum in May raised its stake in listed publisher Longhorn through a rights issue, and now holds 60.2 per cent of the firm from 31.25 per cent previously.

Total assets increased by KES 5.2 Bn during the HY to 30 Sep 2016 on account of new deployments and increase in fair values.

Total assets increased by KES 5.2 Bn during the HY to 30 Sep 2016 on account of new deployments and increase in fair values #CentumHY2017 pic.twitter.com/CCrxzB8Sw4

— Centum Investment (@Centum_Inv) November 16, 2016

Despite the challenging macro-environment characterized by a bearish Nairobi Securities Exchange and low credit and exports growth, the company was able to record a 5 percent growth in the book value of shareholder funds that closed at 40.7 billion shillings.

The report further disclosed that the Group’s bottling subsidiary had invested a total of 1.7 billion shillings in capital expenditure on a new PET line and distribution assets during the period while the real estate sector subsidiaries on the other hand invested 3 billion shillings in projects that are still ongoing.

Centum’s consolidated assets increased by 10 percent to 86 billion shillings as at 30^th September 2016, from the previous 78 billion shillings recorded as at 31^st March 2016.

The Company disclosed that it is in its third year of the Centum 3.0 Strategy which seeks to develop investment grade opportunities across the key sectors of the Kenyan economy. These sectors include real Estate, Financial Services, Fast Moving Consumer Goods, Energy, Agribusiness, Health Care, Education and ICT.