BAT share bull run sees it touch Sh1,000 at the bourse

BAT touched the Sh1,000 mark in Friday’s trading becoming the first stock at the Nairobi Securities Exchange to hit the barrier as it continues attracting demand from institutional investors.

The company closed the week at Sh999 following a surge on Friday when it moved 293,800 shares that represented 75 per cent of its entire week’s traded shares.

The counter opened trading Friday at Sh926, giving it a 7.9 per cent gain on the day.

A Sh1,000 share price would give BAT a market capitalisation of Sh100 billion, making it the seventh firm to achieve that at the NSE after Safaricom, EABL, Equity, KCB, Cooperative Bank and Stanchart.

“On Friday it was local investors selling to fellow locals. There was barely foreign activity on the stock,” said Old Mutual Securities analyst Geoffrey Maina.

Kenya Power closed the week on a positive note following the announcement of an award of Sh10 billion tender to light up Nairobi streets, gaining three per cent to close at Sh15.40. This is within sight of its one-year high level of Sh16. Its weekly gain stood at seven per cent.

BAT’s gain helped the NSE 20 Share Index reverse a three-session losing streak, with the benchmark index ending Friday eight points up to 5,280.

Over the week, however, the index shaved off 12 points, while the NSE All Share Index (NASI) lost three points to stand at 162.54 points.

The biggest decliner in the week was from the insurance segment, where Britam was down 18.52 per cent for the week to Sh27.50.

The firm’s stock has continued to feel the effect of the announcement that private equity firm Cytonn Investments has been appointed the lead transaction advisors for a Sh40 billion property deal that was to be previously undertaken by Britam.

Jubilee Insurance closed the week 12 per cent lower at Sh439, down from Sh499 posted the previous week.

Centum also saw a significant decline, closing the week nearly 10 per cent down at Sh56.50, having been one of the fastest gainers in the market since the beginning of September.

Bank stocks that have been among the most active movers in recent weeks have gone quiet, contributing significantly to the flat index and capitalisation trend.

On Friday, the only significant action in the banking segment was from block trades by foreigners on the Diamond Trust Bank counter, which saw it move three million shares worth Sh795.6 million at an improved price of Sh264, having opened the day at Sh259.