Carbacid Investments has recorded an 18.8 percent rise in net profit for the year ended July 2025 allowing the company to declare a record dividend to shareholders.
The company posted a net income of Sh1 billion up from Sh843.2 million recorded a year earlier. The jump followed recovery of the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) and Dar-es-Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE), which saw its investments portfolio rise by Sh121.2 million compared to a Sh31.2 million shrinkage last year.
The company’s board has announced a Sh2 dividend per share—up from Sh1.70 per share in 2024—which will be a record payout for the listed company.
“The Nairobi Securities Exchange and Dar-es-Salaam Stock Exchange maintained their recovery trends, positively influencing the Group’s investment portfolio. As a result, the Group recorded unrealised gains of Sh68 million on NSE-listed equities and Sh52 million on DSE-listed equities,” the firm said in a statement.
“The directors have proposed a final dividend of Sh2.00 per share (2024: Sh1.70 per share), amounting to a total of Sh509,703,970 (2024: Sh433,248,375).”
The NSE gained 53.8 percent in the 12 months to the end of July 2025, as measured by the NSE all share index. The rally has been attributed to local investors seeking entry into counters that had been undervalued during the bear run.
The carbon dioxide manufacturer, whose product is used by producers of alcohol and soft drinks, recorded a 1.6 percent growth in turnover to Sh2.1 billion owing to higher domestic sales and rising demand from new markets in the South African region.
Domestic sales rose 22.2 percent to Sh613.3 million while export earnings shrunk to Sh1.48 billion from Sh1.56 billion which was attributed to strengthening of the shilling against the dollar.
“This modest growth was mainly driven by rising demand in non-traditional markets such as South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Malawi. However, the appreciation of the Kenyan Shilling against the US Dollar dampened growth when measured in local currency terms,” said the company.
The company's operating profit rose 11.3 percent to Sh1.35 billion signaling that it was enjoying wider gross margins. Management attributed the wider margins to improved operation efficiency especially in energy consumption.
Delivery to the South African markets however increased, dampening gains that it made from the operational efficiency.
“Labour cost, fleet maintenance and other related costs increased due to additional distance covered to serve the customers in various markets,” said the company.
The company’s outlook for the current financial year was dampened by an increase in royalty payments it has to make to the ministry of Mining & Blue Economy.
“The cost of higher royalty payments, combined with persistent inflationary pressures on labour, energy, and fleet costs, is expected to put a strain on operating margins,” said Carbacid in a statement.
“Unless there is meaningful policy review or relief on royalties by the Ministry, these costs will pose a competitive disadvantage to Kenya’s exports of liquefied carbon dioxide,” it added.
