Capital Markets

Equity stock unit beats six rivals in NSE share trades

nse

An investor at the Nairobi Securities Exchange. PHOTO | FILE

Equity Investment Bank (EIB) jumped to second place in stockbrokers’ equity trades on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) in the first half of the year, replacing Russian-owned Renaissance Capital (Rencap) that held the position at the end of last December.

EIB rode on increased foreign investor trades and huge block transactions involving institutional investors in commercial lender Equity Bank to come second after Kestrel Capital in the latest data. Last December, EIB was in position eight while Kestrel still held the top place.

Data on stockbroker trade volumes for the six months to June compiled by the NSE shows that EIB’s share stood at 15.77 per cent or Sh33.6 billion, second only to Kestrel Capital which led the market with 16.66 per cent (Sh35.5 billion).

The cumulative trade turnover (calculated as both buys and sales) on the NSE for the six months to June stood at Sh213.13 billion. This means that Sh106.56 billion in cash changed hands between buyers and sellers of shares.

EIB, a subsidiary of Equity Group Holdings, was mainly boosted by a strong showing in the market during the month of June when it moved trades worth Sh19.5 billion, which accounted for 40 per cent of the NSE’s monthly traded volume of Sh48.5 billion.

“The gains have been pushed by the transaction we handled when Helios sold a stake in Equity Bank to Genesis Investment. Our retail pool has also grown quarter on quarter,” said EIB managing director Irungu Nyakera.

READ: Equity’s largest shareholder Helios sells 12pc stake

EIB’s market share grew by 7.2 percentage points between May and June, having stood at 8.57 per cent cumulatively for the first five months of the year to rank the stockbroker fifth in the market.

EIB has therefore leapfrogged SBG Securities, Rencap and SIB in the market share stakes, with the trio all having been ahead by the end of May.

Along with Kestrel Capital, these stockbrokers have strong foreign trading desks which have allowed them to dominate trading at the NSE.

The top stockbrokers have in recent years capitalised on rising international interest in Kenya’s stock market, moving ahead of the traditional players at the bourse whose mainstay was trade orders by wealthy Kenyan business owners and local institutional investors.

EIB bolstered its foreign trading credentials after entering into a partnership with UK-based investment bank Exotix Partners that has seen the two collaborate on research, sales and trading.