Centum of Kenya Profit Surges 25% on Equity Investment Gains

NAIROBI, Kenya, Capital Markets in Africa: Centum Investment Co., Kenya’s biggest publicly traded investor, said full-year profit grew 25 percent, driven by gains on the country’s stock market.

Net income jumped to 9.95 billion shillings ($98.3 million) in the 12 months through March from 7.94 billion shillings a year earlier, the company said Wednesday in a statement published in the Nairobi-based Business Daily newspaper. Investment and other income increased to 24.2 billion shillings from 11.8 billion shillings, while total assets climbed 8 percent to 78 billion shillings, it said.

“Increase in the group’s profitability speaks to the profitability of the underlying assets which represent our investments,” it said. The return on its holdings in listed companies climbed 23 percent, the company said.

Centum shares have fallen 12 percent in the year to date, underperforming a 0.7 percent drop in the Nairobi Securities Exchange All Share Index over the same period.

Source: Bloomberg Business News