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Tuesday 08th of November 2016
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Morning Africa |
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0930-1500 KENYA TIME
Normal Board - The Whole shebang
Prompt Board Next day settlement
Expert Board All you need re an Individual stock.
The Latest Daily PodCast can be found here on the Front Page of the site
http://www.rich.co.ke |
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12-SEP-2016 :: Mirrors on the ceiling, The pink champagne on ice @TheStarKenya Africa |
Mirrors on the ceiling,
The pink champagne on ice
And she said “We are all just prisoners here, of our own device” Last
thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
“Relax,” said the night man,
“We are programmed to receive.
You can check-out any time you like,
But you can never leave! “
What is clear is that we are at the fag-end of this party.
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UK preparing legislation to trigger Brexit - Sky News [There is no way out] Law & Politics |
The British government is preparing legislation to trigger the
procedure to leave the EU, Sky News reported on Monday, despite Prime
Minister Theresa May saying she is confident of overturning a court
decision that may delay Brexit.
May's plans to start the formal divorce procedure from the European
Union by the end of March were dealt a blow last week when England's
High Court ruled that her government must seek parliamentary approval
for triggering Article 50.
The prime minister is determined to carry out what she calls "the will
of the people". Her spokesman declined to comment directly on the
report on Monday, saying only that the government was focused on
winning its appeal to the Supreme Court next month.
Sky News quoted sources as saying the government was preparing a bill
- legislation that will have to be considered in both houses of
parliament in what could be a lengthy process.
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India is preparing to list about 600 million pounds ($746 million) of so-called masala bonds in London Emerging Markets |
India is preparing to list about 600 million pounds ($746 million) of
so-called masala bonds in London as it seeks to fund expansion of its
energy and transport infrastructure.
Four bonds -- denominated in rupees, but sold overseas -- will be
issued by the state-backed Indian Railway Finance Corp., Indian
Renewable Energy Development Agency, Energy Efficiency Services Ltd.
and National Highways Authority of India by the end of January, U.K.
Prime Minister Theresa May’s office said on Monday in an e-mailed
statement.
Frontier Markets
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Congo's President Tightens Grip on Power, as Former Allies Squeeze Him Out @wsj Africa |
The bloody efforts of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s longtime
president to retain power have plunged the country further into
violent crisis and risk undoing the fragile stability of one of the
world’s most mineral-rich economies.
Joseph Kabila, once hailed as the deft negotiator who ended Africa’s
deadliest war, in recent months has canceled elections slated for
November and insisted the government needs more preparation time. More
than 50 people were killed in a two-day government crackdown in
September, the United Nations said.
On Oct. 17, Mr. Kabila’s ruling coalition formally announced it would
postpone elections until at least 2018. The widely expected decision
marked the latest dispiriting twist for opposition supporters who
braved the streets for months and could signal an ominous new chapter
in political confrontation.
The delay has alienated Mr. Kabila’s allies at home and
abroad—including the U.S.—who once vaunted the 45-year-old former
rebel commander as the hope for Congo’s stability.
A poll published on Tuesday by Congo Research Group indicates that
some 81% of Congolese are opposed to amending the constitution to
allow Mr. Kabila extend his term.
The future of this country of 77 million people rests on which version
of Mr. Kabila emerges from the standoff—the peacemaker or the tyrant,
who may sink his country back into conflict.
His supporters say Congo lacks the resources to organize a credible
election. But diplomats warn that street battles and floundering
commodity prices risk steering Congo to economic and political ruin.
“Congo is drifting toward a violent path, but the danger can be
avoided,” said Thomas Perriello, the U.S. special envoy to the Great
Lakes Region, which also includes Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and
Uganda.
Born and raised in a rebel camp in Congo’s forested eastern gold and
tin heartlands, where his father Laurent Kabila was leading a
guerrilla war against strongman Mobuto Sese Seko, Mr. Kabila rose
through rebel ranks. He became president at the age of 29, after his
father was assassinated in 2001.
Soon, the Chinese-trained two-star general sealed peace deals with
dozens of rebel groups, concluding a five-year regional conflict that
cost more than six million lives across sub-Saharan Africa’s largest
nation.
Investors returned to the country, which holds huge reserves of
copper, gold, cobalt and coltan, a metal used in smartphones and
personal computers. Abandoned mines started reopening, aiding the
turnaround of the once-shattered economy, to post one of the fastest
growth rates in the world in recent years, according to the World
Bank.
Mr. Kabila prefers to take the lead in negotiations with foreign
investors, people close to him say, but the bargaining skills that saw
Mr. Kabila make peace in the early 2000s aren’t helping much this
time.
His ruling coalition has splintered, costing him several hitherto
allied parties and influential figures, including Moise Katumbi, the
wealthy former governor of copper-producing Katanga province, and
Vital Kamerhe, head of the Union for the Congolese Nation party. The
majority of the political parties have stayed away from talks to put
in place a transitional government.
“President Kabila is letting down the Congolese people and the
international community,” said Sasha Lezhnev, a policy analyst with
U.S.-based rights group Enough Project.
Critics accuse Mr. Kabila of plotting to prolong his time in power and
eventually change Congo’s constitution to allow him to stand for a
third term. His supporters deny the allegation.
Lambert Mende, Congo’s information minister, said Mr. Kabila wants to
leave behind a sound democracy. “For him, it’s an unfinished journey”
Mr. Mende said, adding that claims that the president planned to
change the constitution were “Western propaganda.”
By using force to silence opponents, Mr. Kabila, who routinely tours
the countryside with columns of machine-gun-toting guards, has become
the latest symbol of a typical African strongman. In recent months,
heads of state in neighboring Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi
have changed laws to extend their mandates.
“The trend must not be encouraged to continue,” Mr. Perriello said.
Conclusions
Not sure Kabila can keep on repressing without the Pressure Cooker blowing.
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S. African pension fund seeks central bank approval to increase Barclays Africa stake: sources Africa |
Africa's biggest pension fund, Public Investment Corporation, has
sought approval from South Africa's central bank to raise its stake in
Barclays Africa, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.
Barclays Africa's parent, Barclays Plc, wants to reduce its holding to
below 20 percent, which would make it an equity investment rather than
a subsidiary. The plan is part of a broader sale by the British bank
of its African assets as it shifts to focus on the United States and
Britain.
Public Investment Corporation (PIC), the second-biggest shareholder in
Barclays Africa with a holding of about 7 percent, could buy at least
an additional 31 percent stake, the sources indicated. They would not
elaborate on the exact stake size or the timing or logistics of the
purchase.
Under South African regulations PIC requires the central bank's
approval to raise its stake in Barclays Africa.
"PIC has always looked at Barclays Plc's retreat as an opportunity to
create a black-owned bank, but there aren't many people with deep
pockets to make that happen," one of the sources said.
"But PIC on its own can buy to a level where Barclays will be able to
deconsolidate it and has approached the Reserve Bank for ways to go
about it."
Barclays Plc trimmed its interest in its African unit to 50 percent,
from 62 percent, in May.
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Since the pound's peg of 8.8 to the dollar was abandoned on Thursday, the currency has tumbled to near 17 Africa |
Official data is not available but bankers say privately they believe
Egyptian banks need several billion dollars to fill their existing
commitments. In addition, unmet commercial demand for dollars is
estimated at around $8 billion to $10 billion.
"Filling this demand and ending the dollar shortage will not be the
work of days. It will take weeks or months," said one Egyptian banker
familiar with the currency market.
Regional investment bank Arqaam Capital said the devaluation could
bring $12 billion of foreign money into Egypt's bond market and $4.5
billion into equities - but it estimated this might take a year.
The resulting rise in inflation probably won't be as big as the
currency's fall, partly because about 90 percent of imported consumer
goods were already being paid for at black market currency rates in
the months before the devaluation.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has urged Egyptians not to protest and
warned that there will be no going back on economic reforms, whatever
the pain.
Lawyer Ayman Hassan, 45, said he would not protest on Friday as he did
not want to "ruin the country" but Sisi should listen to the people.
"We are now calling it Black Thursday," he said. "This is a dangerous
warning; Sisi's popularity is declining."
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07-NOV-2016 :: Bob is right Kenya Inc needs five Safaricoms @TheStarKenya Kenyan Economy |
This week past Safaricom released its First Half Earnings. The
centrality of Safaricom to the Nairobi Securities Exchange is shown
when you compare Safaricom's market capitalisation 851.39b [$8.429b]
to the market cap of the entire Stock Exchange 2.050 trillion
[$20.297b]. Safaricom constitutes 41.52% of the total value of the
Stock Exchange. The markets emit a very pure signal and this is the
first signal to note. Mr. Collymore has presided over a golden Age for
shareholders. The Total Return for shareholders during his tenure
clocks +711%. That Return surely ranks in the top percentile
world-wide. This is the second signal to note.
Today, Safaricom is on the radar of every international Investor. I
cannot think of any other SSA Equity which occupies the same degree of
mind share. The Share price has been a bull market for more than 5
years. There are a few more years to go.
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Kenyan tycoon on the spot after Uganda bank collapse Kenyan Economy |
Prime Bank chairman Rasik Kantaria has found himself in the eye of a
storm after Ugandan authorities placed Crane Bank in receivership over
irregular lending practices.
Mr Kantaria – a significant shareholder at Prime Bank – is a
long-serving director and the second largest shareholder in Crane Bank
with a 47.32 per cent stake.
Ugandan authorities placed Crane Bank in receivership on October 20,
2016 and immediately suspended the nine-member board of directors, as
well as the bank’s executives, saying the bank had failed to meet the
legal requirements of its operating licence.
The Bank of Uganda (BoU) said in a statement that Crane Bank was
“significantly undercapitalised”, adding that the lender posed a
systemic risk to the stability of the financial system.
“The continuation of Crane Bank’s activities in its current form is
detrimental to the interests of its depositors,” the BoU said.
Crane Bank’s total capital to total risk-weighted assets ratio was at
12 per cent at the time of the takeover, short of the statutory 18 per
cent for significant banks, according to the BoU.
Ranked the fourth largest lender by assets, Crane Bank has been
designated by the industry regulator as a “domestic systemically
important bank”, making Mr Kantaria’s stake in the lender significant
in Uganda’s financial system.
Mr Kantaria owns his Crane Bank stake through an investment vehicle
dubbed White Sapphire Ltd, and has served on the Ugandan lender’s
board for more than a decade.
Crane Bank is controlled by Ugandan tycoon Sudhir Ruparelia, who has a
48.67 per cent stake, held directly and through his wife Jyotsna,
daughter Sheena and son Rajiv.
Crane Bank’s volume of non-performing loans and advances stood at
USh142.358 billion (KSh4.15 billion) as at December 2015, accounting
for a quarter of Uganda’s banking sector bad loans that stood at
USh573.4 billion (KSh16.72 billion), according to BoU data.
He chairs the boards of multiple firms, including Tausi Assurance and
Leisure Lodge Beach and Golf Resort, and is a director in First
Merchant Bank of Malawi, where Prime Bank directly controls 11.24 per
cent and a further 11.24 per cent through Prime Capital Holdings Ltd,
a wholly-owned subsidiary.
Mr Kantaria’s directorships in Malawi include The Leasing and Finance
Company of Malawi Ltd, a deposit taking lender, and BNC Packaging Ltd,
a logistics firm.
Prime Bank indirectly owns a minority stake in Capital Bank of
Botswana, given that First Merchant Bank controls 38.6 per cent of the
Gaborone-based lender.
“Prime Bank is a professionally run financial Institution regulated by
the CBK (Central Bank of Kenya). We are fully compliant and strictly
follow the prudential guidelines laid down by the CBK.”
Prime Bank is ranked 15th in size out of Kenya’s 40 operational banks,
with 24,000 deposit accounts and 4,000 loan accounts — giving it a
cumulative market share of 1.82 per cent, according to latest CBK
data. CBK governor Patrick Njoroge declined to comment on this story.
Mr Kantaria, 73, founded Prime Bank in 1992 after starting Prime
Capital & Credit Ltd, a non-bank institution, four years earlier.
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N.S.E Today |
All eyes are transfixed on the US Election, which has been an
extraordinary Spectacle from Donald Trump's linguistic warfare from
"Little Marco" to ''Low-Energy Jeb'' to ''Crooked Hillary'' through to
the last-gasp interventions by the FBI. You could not have made up the
story-line if you tried. Accusations of Putin's nefarious hand,
Assange drip feeding the Pedestal Emails all confirm an extraordinary
electoral cycle. As we wait for the results, Prediction markets have
Hillary clinton at an 80% probability with Donald Trump at 20%. A
Trump win would catch the markets as off-guard as BREXIT did.
Closer to home, The Nation reported that Prime Bank's Chairman was a
47.32% shareholder in Crane Bank Uganda which was placed into
receivership last month.
Prime Bank which is ranked 15th in size out of Kenya’s 40 operational
banks said
“Prime Bank is a professionally run financial Institution regulated by
the CBK (Central Bank of Kenya). We are fully compliant and strictly
follow the prudential guidelines laid down by the CBK.”
The Nairobi All Share eased back -0.69 points to close at 139.80.
The Nairobi NSE20 ticked -6.07 points lower to close at 3242.46
Equity Turnover clocked 716.316m.
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N.S.E Equities - Commercial & Services |
Safaricom eased 25cents to close at 20.75 and traded 16.019m shares.
The Pull-back will be shallow and short-lived.
Kenya Airways rallied +4.38% to close at a Fresh 2016 High of 7.30 and
on good volume of 1.074m shares. Kenya Airways has surged since the
announcement of the appointment of Mr. Michael Joseph as Chairman.
Kenya Airways is +48.97% through 2016.
Nation Media fell -1.01% to close at Fresh Multi-Year Low of 98.00 and
traded 7,200 shares. Nation Media is -47.38% in 2016.
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N.S.E Equities - Finance & Investment |
Equity Bank firmed +1.62% to close at 31.25 and traded 1.942m shares.
Equity Bank's CEO Dr. James Mwangi struck a very positive note about
Equity's position in the new banking normal during the release of
Equity's Q3 16 Earnings last week.
KCB firmed +0.86% to close at 29.00 and traded 757,300 shares ahead of
its Q3 16 Earnings release expected imminently.
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N.S.E Equities - Industrial & Allied |
EABL was the most actively traded share today and eased -0.36% to
close at 274.00 and traded 699,000 shares.
Kenya Power KPLC which signalled a sharp slow-down in Capex for this
FY, traded 1.648m shares and closed unchanged at 9.00.
ARM Cement rallied +4.95% to close at a 3 week high of 26.50 and
traded 191,300 shares.
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