Centum to Sell Shares Worth Ksh. 19.5 Billion to Pay Off Debts

In 2018, Centum Investments issued a profit warning for the full financial year ending March 31st, 2018.

A statement released by the investment firm indicated that lower asset valuation, political uncertainty, reduced access to credit, and unconcluded transactions informed the profit warning.

A year later, Centum has now confirmed that it is planning to sell its shares in Almasi Beverages Limited (ABL) and Nairobi Bottlers Limited (NBL) worth 19.5 billion shillings to Coca-Cola Sabco East Africa Limited (CCBA), a subsidiary of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa.

Centum Investments plans on spending the 19.5 billion shillings proceeds to pay off its current U.S. dollar-denominated bank term loans of 7.5 billion shillings which will result in savings of 700 million shillings in finance cost.

Centum has further stated that the balance of these proceeds will be invested in its private Equity and Marketable Securities portfolios.

James Mworia, Chief Executive for Centum Investments, has said that the firm plans to offload its entire 53.9 percent stake in Almasi Beverages and 27.6 percent in Nairobi Bottlers to CCBA as it cuts appetite for capital gains in favor of investing more in cash-generating businesses.

The finalization of the acquisition of Centum’s shares at ABL and NBL by CCBA is, however, awaiting regulatory approvals from the Competition Authority of Kenya.

Nonetheless, the company has announced that it recorded a 41 percent rise in full-year pretax profit. Profit for the year ended of March 2019 rose to 4.44 billion shillings from 3.15 billion the year before.

Centum has so far raised 36.3 billion shillings through partial or full exits in its investment portfolios in the past five years, leading to Sh24.3 billion capital gains.

Read Also: Rocky future for Shareholders as Centum Issues Profit Warning