Corporate News
KenolKobil issues profit warning, resumes trading at Nairobi bourse
Posted Wednesday, June 20 2012 at 13:40
Oil marketer KenolKobil has issued a profit warning for the six months ending June 2012, saying its performance will be affected by lower international oil prices, forex losses and high financing costs in Kenya and regional markets.
The oil firm, whose shares resumed trading at the Nairobi bourse after their suspension was lifted on Wednesday, announced that its earnings for the full year would be significantly lower than in 2011.
KenolKobil said that the hedging positions it had taken to cushion against the volatile foreign exchange last year had resulted in into forex losses for the first half of this year.
It further said lower international oil prices, and instability in local currencies where the company operates has posed challenges in profitably managing stockholdings versus local currency pricing.
“Management expects that the company's results for the six months ending 30th June 2012 will reflect the negative factors”, KenolKobil noted, adding that it was taking all necessary actions to maintain profitability and positive cash flow for the full year.
Last year, the oil firm made a Sh3.2 billion net profit on the back of increased sales and higher fuel prices.
KenolKobil’s shares had been suspended from trading at the Nairobi Securities Exchange since last month after the firm announced it would sell a 70 per cent majority stake to Puma Energy, a Switzerland-based oil company, in a Sh25 billion buyout deal.
KenolKobil, the largest oil marketer in Kenya, operates in other eight African countries including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and Zambia.
Its marketshare stood at 24.5 per cent in the first quarter of this year closely followed by Total’s 21.7 per cent, according to the latest data from the Petroleum Institute of East Africa (PIEA)
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