Kenya Equities Market Weekly Update – 28th March 2025

The Kenyan equities market exhibited mixed movement during the week as investors responded to key earnings announcements and sector performance shifts. The week was marked by notable corporate results, fluctuating investor sentiment, and a continued streak of foreign investor outflows.

Market Performance Summary

• Top Gainers: Safaricom (+3.1%), Stanbic (+1.1%), Absa (+1.1%)
• Top Laggards: DTB-K (-5.0%), EABL (-2.8%), Standard Chartered (-1.6%)

Corporate Earnings Highlights

It was a heavy reporting week with multiple listed companies releasing their FY’2024 financial results:

🏦 Banking Sector

• Equity Group: PAT up +11.6% to Kshs 48.8 bn, supported by a 6.7% increase in operating income.
• NCBA Group: PAT up +1.9% to Kshs 21.9 bn, mainly due to reduced loan loss provisions.
• I&M Group: Strong PAT growth of +24.8% to Kshs 16.7 bn, driven by a 20.0% increase in revenue.
• DTB-K: PAT rose by +13.1% to Kshs 8.8 bn, supported by increased efficiency in cost management.
• Co-op Bank (announced previous week): PAT at Kshs 25.5 bn, up +9.8% YoY.

🏢 Insurance & Financial Services

• CIC Group: PAT nearly doubled, rising +98.0% to Kshs 2.9 bn, driven by higher investment income and lower reinsurance costs.
• Britam Holdings: PAT surged +53.5% to Kshs 5.0 bn, propelled by a 163.4% increase in net investment income.
• Liberty Kenya Holdings: PAT more than doubled to Kshs 1.4 bn, supported by gains in investment and insurance income.
• HF Group: PAT improved +35.2% to Kshs 0.5 bn, reflecting better cost containment.

✈️ Transport Sector

• Kenya Airways: Posted a historic turnaround, with PAT at Kshs 5.4 bn vs a Kshs 22.7 bn loss in FY’2023, thanks to forex gains and improved operating performance under Project Kifaru.

Notable Corporate Action

• KCB Group disclosed plans to acquire a 75.0% stake in fintech firm Riverbank Solutions Ltd. The move signals a strategic effort to unify its agent and digital banking platforms across Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda.

Market Activity & Flow

• Turnover: Decreased by 41.9% to USD 10.3 mn from USD 17.7 mn
• YTD Turnover: Now at USD 202.7 mn
• Foreign Investors: Net sellers for a 5th straight week with net outflows of USD 0.7 mn
• YTD Net Outflow: USD 25.2 mn, compared to USD 16.9 mn in 2024

Key Insights

• Investor sentiment remains mixed with selective optimism towards strong corporate earnings.
• The continued net selling by foreign investors suggests lingering caution, possibly due to global macroeconomic factors or portfolio reallocations.
• Equity Group’s solid growth, KQ’s historic turnaround, and Britam’s investment income boost signal a broad-based recovery among blue-chip counters.
• The acquisition move by KCB underscores a growing strategic pivot by banks towards fintech integration.

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