Smaller firms at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) led by Uganda's electricity distributor Umeme had the highest stock price gains in the three months to March, helped by improved net earnings and dividend payout.
The top 10 gainers in the review period include Umeme whose share price rallied 57 percent and Kenya Orchids which jumped 44.2 percent.
Others are I&M Group (22.6 percent), Sasini (20 percent), HF Group (19.4 percent), Flame Tree (19.4 percent), Standard Chartered Bank Kenya (19 percent), Eaagads (15.7 percent), Kapchorua Tea (14.8 percent) and Sameer Africa (10.9 percent).
The gains of the stocks in the agricultural, banking and manufacturing sector have been helped by increased net earnings in 2022 and the payment of dividends announced by some firms such as Umeme, Kenya Orchids, StanChart and I&M.
Listed agricultural firms have been reaping gains in commodity prices over the last year, helping to fuel the growers’ sales and earnings.
Agricultural firm Sasini, for instance, posted the highest net profit in seven years on the back of increased revenues and muted costs.
However, the firm opted not to declare a final dividend after a Sh1 per share interim dividend amounting to Sh228 million was paid in mid-July last year.
Kenya Orchids also paid a cumulative dividend of Sh110,000 despite a 47.8 percent decline in net profits to Sh1.92 million impacted by deferred tax payments.
Mortgage lender HF Group recently reported its first profit since 2018 as it races to break a dividend drought.
Flame Tree gained despite having issued a profit warning, anticipating at least a 25 percent decline in full-year profit for the year ending December 2022, citing a sharp increase in raw materials prices.
Top losers in the quarter include Unga Group which lost 41.9 percent followed by Car & General at 38.5 percent.
Others are KenGen (31.7 percent), Kakuzi (31.4 percent), Safaricom (25 percent), Standard Group (18.5 percent), Sanlam (14.2 percent), Liberty Kenya (14.1 percent), Uchumi Supermarkets (13.04 percent) and Longhorn Publishers (13 percent).
The selloff of the big firms like Safaricom has been attributed to foreigners fleeing emerging and frontier markets such as Kenya amid rising rates in developed economies.
Central banks in Europe and the US have raised rates aggressively in recent months to fight inflation, reducing the risk premium for investing in emerging countries.
