bankelele

• Economic Stimulus Friday

  Posted: May 16, 2008, 5:55 pm by bankelele

  This month US citizens get a second windfall cheque from President George W. Bush as economic stimulus cheques arrive in their mailboxes of at least $300 (~Kshs. 19,000) per person, and more for parents and guardians with children. (The first was after he pipped Al Gore to the presidency and came through with one his main campaign promises). But they are being rewarded and banks cushioned

• Business Brief's: May 15

  Posted: May 14, 2008, 10:44 pm by bankelele

  S& L will provide housing finance for government civil servants: A rate of 5% over 18 years is unprecedented – but 600 million shillings means it will benefit as most 120 mid-tier admins going by the current housing prices. Blue chip black eyes: It must be bad for employees of blue chip banks and companies in Nairobi like Barclays, Citi, AIG - to have to face the press and their peers while

• Next CMA minefield

  Posted: May 13, 2008, 5:55 pm by bankelele

  Employee share ownership plans (ESOP’s) are define by the CMA as unit trusts. They are ideal for high tech small companies, but when establish companies roll them out without clear rules, it’s a cause for legal concern, but more so for shareholders of these companies. They make sense in high tech small companies who need to retain key employees (Access Kenya, Scangroup), but what does a large

• Wanted

  Posted: May 13, 2008, 5:38 pm by bankelele

  A breakdown on all NSE share splits from 2000, with dates and split prices Things we don’t have in Kenya but may be nice to have at the NSE - Short selling; there are some stocks I’d love to short - Automatic Dividend reinvestment programs (DRIP’s), why don’t more companies push for these as they push for ESOP’s? - Share buy back programs: someone to buy my Uchumi? Things that should go away

• Regional diversification

  Posted: May 9, 2008, 10:19 pm by bankelele

  Taking regional investments a step further - how are various local listed companies doing on the regional front? January 2008 showed that having a focus on Kenya alone could be an Achilles heel despite it being considered one of the strongest economies in the region. Various listed companies are making pushes in East and Central Africa – however many of these countries are all dependent on Kenyan

• Access Kenya AGM

  Posted: May 8, 2008, 7:58 pm by bankelele

  Access Kenya (AK) held its first AGM since listing on the Nairobi stock exchange (NSE). Here in alphabetical order is a brief recap. Most of the questions were answered by Chairman Michael Somen and Executive director David Somen Accounts: there were two balance sheets and P&L’s in the accounts which caused some confusion, but it was explained that one set was audited while the other was

• Celtel Zambia: Prospectus Peek

  Posted: May 6, 2008, 6:43 pm by bankelele

  After taking a peek at Safaricom prospectus, take a look at the Celtel Zambia one (Thanks M for mailing it in) with two weeks to go in the calendar. January 2008, showed that cross-border diversification may not be a bad thing, even for Kenyans - and if you have the money and the chance, you should do it. Stanbic Uganda has performed quite well, though the weakening Uganda shilling eats into

• Looking Back: Annual reports

  Posted: May 6, 2008, 6:40 pm by bankelele

  I found the annual accounts for Total East Africa (now Total Kenya) for the year 1990 and tried to compare the changes over the years. This is important as companies with over a hundred thousand shareholders (Eveready, Safaricom) will be considering cutting their costs soon until they are able to use e-mail for distribution. comparing the 1990 and 2006 annual reports from Total size: 1990: 20

• Regional banks and dueling websites

  Posted: May 3, 2008, 8:38 pm by bankelele

  Diamond Trust Bank will this month ask their to approve - participation of the bank in a rights issue of their Ugandan subsidiary - Approve expansion to Burundi (odd or smart considering that other banks have focused on Rwanda) dueling web sites DTB new corp name have a new website but they should probably map /discontinue their old site or it may give the impression that its another

• CMA gets teeth

  Posted: May 2, 2008, 9:21 pm by bankelele

  After taking a public beating from almost everybody in the country (from the President down to school kids) the Capital markets Authority (CMA) has decided to announce how it will bite back with a raft of new proposals posted at its website - Raises stockbroker share capital to 50 million shillings (~$800,000) from the current 5 million, while that of investment banks goes up to 250 million -

• New media stocks at the NSE

  Posted: May 2, 2008, 1:37 pm by bankelele

  Until Safaricom gets listed later this year, take a glance at Access Kenya and Scangroup - two recently listed, new media companies at the NSE. They both say they are market leaders (none of their competitors are listed), both set out to increase market share organically and by acquisitions, and their shares cost about 30 shillings ($0.48) each, three times their IPO prices. This month, Access

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Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

Guess what ... yeah ... fish cakes.

The end of the fish cakes