Mobile plan lifts Equity stock value to all-time high

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Equity is now the top performing bank counter at the NSE in 2014, with a year-to-date price gain of 64 per cent, ahead of CfC Stanbic that is up 47 per cent, Housing Finance up 45 per cent and KCB at 23 per cent.

Equity Bank stock hit a fresh all-time high of Sh50.50 Friday, helping the lender widen its lead over KCB as the most valuable listed bank at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE).

The ambitious Equity, which is laying ground to launch a new mobile money assault, gained 3.6 per cent on Friday with an intra-day trading high of Sh52.50, pushing its valuation to Sh187 billion. Second placed in the banking sector is KCB, valued at Sh171.6 billion, with its share closing at Sh57.50 or Sh15 billion less than Equity.
The two lenders have a few times swapped the mantle of top bank at the NSE this year, although with its latest price surge Equity seems to be widening the distance in the race.

Investors have reacted positively to the awarding of a licence to the bank to roll out its SIM cards, a process that has been held up by objections from leading telco Safaricom which has expressed security concerns over the thin-SIM technology.
“On news that Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK) allowed Equity Bank to launch thin-film SIM cards for one year, the lender touched a high of Sh52.50. Within the year, the bank’s SIM cards will be tested and monitored by CA for any security vulnerabilities,” said Standard Investment bank in a market note Friday.

The bank is operating its telcoms service through subsidiary Finserve, which was granted a mobile virtual network operator licence in May.

READ: MPs now demand say in approval of thin-SIM technology
Equity is now the top performing bank counter at the NSE in 2014, with a year-to-date price gain of 64 per cent, ahead of CfC Stanbic that is up 47 per cent to Sh128 over the period. Housing Finance has a gain of 45 per cent at Sh45.75 while KCB’s year-to-date gain is 23 per cent.
Uchumi was the biggest loser on Friday as it retreated 6.2 per cent to close the week at Sh10.55. Its weekly loss stood at 11.3 per cent. This was despite recording a 7.6 per cent growth in profits to Sh384 million.

READ: Uchumi shuts Uganda outlet, profit up 7.6pc
Investors seem discouraged by news of the closure of the supermarket chain’s Freedom Mall branch in Kampala after lease renewal challenges, at a time when its competitors are conducting aggressive expansion drives.
The NSE share gained a further 9.7 per cent to become the leading gainer on Friday, breaking past the Sh20 barrier (closing Sh21.50) as demand for the counter remained high with 6.3 million shares traded on Friday. The share is now trading at 126 per cent premium on the listing price of Sh9.50.
The counter which listed 194.6 million shares Tuesday has now seen its valuation more than double in the space of four days, with market cap now at Sh4.2 billion from the listing valuation of Sh1.85 billion.