Billionaire Karim Jamal becomes KenGen’s third largest owner

KenGen shareholders tour the Olkaria geothermal plant in Naivasha on September 21, 2012. Karim Jamal is now the third largest shareholder of KenGen. FILE 

By NEVILLE OTUKI

In Summary

• Regulatory filings show that Mr Jamal had 13.7 million shares by February 28 that pushed him in the top ten shareholder ranking.
• NSSF owns 21 million shares in the company that is owned 70 per cent by the government.
• Mr Jamal’s stake in KenGen is currently worth Sh217.8 million and he had earned a dividend of Sh8.22 million.

 

Billionaire businessman Karim Jamal has become the third largest shareholder of KenGen behind the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and Treasury after buying additional shares in the power generator.

Regulatory filings show that Mr Jamal had 13.7 million shares by February 28 that pushed him in the top ten shareholder ranking.

NSSF owns 21 million shares in the company that is owned 70 per cent by the government — which sold the other 30 per cent stake to the public through a 2005 initial public offer that raised more than Sh26 billion against a target of Sh7.9 billion.

Mr Jamal’s enhanced shareholding has coincided with the exit of small investors in the firm since the IPO, renewing debate over the much contested subject of citizens’ participation in ongoing privatisation of public enterprises.

KenGen’s latest shareholder reports indicates that the company now has 200,199 shareholders in its register, yet the initial sale of shares saw investors’ rise to more than 280,000.

Records show that high net investors have accumulated millions of shares from an initial allocation of 6,600 shares.

The stake held by investors with less than 10,000 shares has dropped to 12.4 per cent in February down from 14.4 per cent in June 2009 and 25 per cent in 2006.

The KenGen IPO is credited with ushering retail investors into the Nairobi Securities Exchange, which was one of the government’s objectives during the initial share sale.

Mr Jamal is one of the leading retail investors at the Nairobi bourse. He is estimated to own shares worth more than Sh2.5 billion, with significant holdings in firms like Kenya Power, Mumias Sugar, Uchumi Supermarket, Sameer, Sasini and Kakuzi — where he has been in and out of their top 10 shareholder lists over the past three years.

Mr Jamal’s stake in KenGen is currently worth Sh217.8 million and he had earned a dividend of Sh8.22 million.

KenGen’s profit stood at Sh2.4 billion in 2007 and rose to Sh3.2 billion in 2010 before slipping to Sh2.8 billion in the year to last June. This helped it raise its dividend 20 per cent to Sh0.60 a share from Sh0.50, a payout it has maintained since 2008.

The share has increased 106.4 per cent over the past year to Sh15.90 in a period that has seen most counters at the Nairobi bourse rise by double-digits.

The firm is in the middle of searching for a new CEO after Eddy Njoroge in November announced his resignation from the helm of the State-owned power firm.