During the week ended July 7, 2023, the equities market was on an upward trend, with NASI, NSE 20, and NSE 25 gaining by 4.1%, 4.0%, and 2.7%, respectively, with large-cap stocks such as Safaricom, Equity, and BAT gaining by 8.0%, 4.6%, and 4.1%.
Read more: The Nairobi Stock Exchange’s Continuous Decline – A Simple Look
The performance was mainly attributable to increased trading, whereby 79.1 million shares were transacted during the week compared to 31.8 million shares transacted during the previous week, leading to the total equity turnover increasing to Kshs 1.5 billion during the week from Kshs 0.6 billion recorded the previous week.
The prices for the listed banking stocks have started to rally, attributed to the investors’ anticipated improved performance, with banks set to release their H1’2023 results in the coming weeks. Additionally, most banks usually issue interim dividends during the announcement of the half-year results, so it is expected to see the prices of banking stocks continue to rise in the coming weeks.
Read more: Why Investors Are Undervaluing Banks in Kenya
EABL is also expected to release its financial results for the full year ending June 30, 2023, in the coming weeks. EABL, in the half year ended December 31, 2022, made a profit after sales of Kshs 8.7 billion and issued an Interim dividend of Kshs 3.75 per share. Investors are therefore keeping their eyes on when the full-year results will be released as they anticipate the dividends that will be declared.
Read more: 2022 Bank Profits Driven By Forex Income
BAT is also another company that is expected to release its half-year results for the half-year ended June 30, 2023, with investors seeking to earn returns from the dividend declared. In the full year ended December 31, 2022, the company made a profit after tax of Kshs 6.8 billion and declared a dividend of Kshs 52.0 per share. Additionally, BAT had issued an interim dividend of Kshs 5.0 per share after earning a profit after tax of Kshs 2.9 billion.
It is expected that the NSE will witness increased activity as investors seek to earn from the dividends that will be declared by the listed banking stocks, EABL and BAT. This is expected to support the increase in stock prices in the coming weeks.
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