Safaricom Sweeps The Counters, Accounts For 44% Of All Trading Activities

Safaricom reclaimed its top mover position, accounting for 44.0 percent of trading activity, followed by KCB at 12.6 percent on Wednesday. The telco extended losses for the second straight session, retreating 2.2 percent to 18.15 shillings on sustained profit-taking.

Similarly, KCB Group lost 3.0 percent to 30.25 shillings on profit taking, largely by foreign investors. Equity Group investors could cheer as the bank built on its twelve-session gains, up 0.5 percent while StanChart regained 0.3 percent.

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At the same time, BAT was a notable top gainer on Wednesday, slipping 2.5 percent to 440.00 shillings following its 1H23 results in which EPS declined 3.5 percent y/y to 28.22 billion shillings. Net revenues also dropped 6.9 percent y/y as the domestic market and exports slowed.

The Board of Directors has recommended an interim DPS of 5.00 shillings (unchanged over the prior year, 17.7% payout, 12.6 percent trailing 12-month dividend yield), with book closure slated for 18^th August 2023 and payment around 22^nd September 2023.

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Liberty was the best performer of the day, up 6.5 percent to 4.28 shillings (one-month high) while HF Group was the leading loser, down 6.8 percent to 4.27  shillings (one-month low).

Foreign Investors: Foreign investors were net buyers for the seventh consecutive session, recording net inflows of USD 0.1m. Safaricom led the buying charge while KCB led the selling charge.

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Indices: The benchmark indices closed in red for the second consecutive session. The NASI led the losing charge, down 1.2 percent while the NSE 20 and NSE 25 each shed 0.8 percent.

Turnover: Equity turnover declined 78.3 percent to a three-week low of USD 0.4m as foreign investor participation dropped to 25.7 percent vis-à-vis 51.1 percent in the prior session.

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Content and data courtesy of Standard Investment Bank (SIB).