Investors lose Sh19bn as NSE slips below 4000 points

Investors at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) lost about Sh19 billion in wealth as the blue chips index fell below 4,000 points last week compared to the previous week.

Market capitalisation stood at Sh2.05 trillion as of last Friday compared to Sh2.07 trillion the previous Friday.

The NSE 20 Share Index stood at 3964.65 points, down from 4009.26 points the previous Friday.

Many counters lost value including those going ex-dividend/bonus mainly banking stocks.

Several companies lost value last week. Kapchorua Tea lost 6.67 per cent, Sasini shed off 5.15 per cent, Housing Finance 6.98 per cent, Uchumi Supermarkets was down 6.25 per cent while KenGen lost 5.26 per cent and Home Africa 6.45 per cent.

Standard Investment Bank (SIB) noted Home Afrika had released 2015 performance figures which showed a loss per share at 91 cents.

“Management attributed the poor numbers to reduced sales of plots in its portfolio of projects,” noted SIB.

Crown Paints Kenya gained 10.00 per cent, Britam Holdings climbed 5.66 per cent, BOC Kenya gained 5.38 per cent, FTG Holdings was up 5.26 per cent while TransCentury gained 7.87 per cent in the course of the week.

For some of the companies that gained, a dividend had been announced earlier. Crown Paints announced a final dividend of 60 cents a share on April 29 with books set for closure June 15 and payment for July 29.

Despite making a Sh1 billion loss last year, Britam Holdings announced a first and final dividend of 30 cents on April 19 with book closure on June 9 and payment on June 24.

BOC Kenya Ltd announced a final dividend of Sh3.00 on April 6 and will close book on May 13 ahead of payment on July 13.