From left: Jamii Bora CEO Samuel Kimani, chief commercial officer
Timothy Kabiru and chairman James Gacheru during the bank’s AGM in
Nairobi on Thursday. SALATON NJAU
By GEORGE NGIGI
Micro-lender Jamii Bora Bank has announced plans
to list on the small companies’ segment at the Nairobi Securities
Exchange in the next one year.
The bank becomes the second firm after real estate developer Home Afrika to announce plans of listing on the NSE’s Growth Enterprise Market Segment (Gems).
In its annual general meeting held on Thursday,
Jamii Bora Bank shareholders passed a resolution to allow for conversion
of its shares certificates into electronic accounts, setting the stage
for the listing. The bank also split its shares 100 times to increase
their liquidity.
“Last year we had resolved to list
over-the-counter (OTC), but with the creation of GEMS, whose
requirements are more relaxed, we saw why not just list on the wider
platform,” said Jamii Bora CEO Samuel Kimani.
Shares of firms that are listed on the OTC market
are traded through select stockbrokers unlike under GEMS, which opens
the stock for trading by all NSE intermediaries.
The listing is expected to raise liquidity of the lender’s shares by making them available to a larger group of investors.
The share split will see the par value of Jamii
Bora Bank shares drop to Sh0.66 from Sh66, while its market price will
be Sh2.20 from Sh220 per unit.
“We felt the market value of Sh220 was too
expensive and also even with appreciation we will go for some time
without considering doing it again,” said Mr Kimani.
Last year the bank held a rights issue to raise
its core capital to above the Sh1 billion minimum requirement by the
regulator, which was oversubscribed by 35 per cent. Shareholders applied
for about Sh700 million against the Sh520 million that the bank had put
on the block.
The small sized bank has been re-inventing itself
with shareholders injecting additional capital in the past two years to
drive growth.
In 2011 new investors, Messrs Asterik, bought a
stake into the company and appointed former KCB deputy director, Samuel
Kimani who is also a major shareholder in the outfit as the new managing
director.
On Thursday it announced a 65.9 per cent growth in
its first quarter profit after tax. The bank made a profit after tax of
Sh15 million driven by increased interest income from a growing loan
book. The bank has increased its branch network to 14 outlets with
intention to continue opening a branch each month.
Major shareholders include Jamii Bora Scandinavian
Group and Messrs Asterisk with a 25 per cent stake apiece, Jamii Bora
Africa Group (12 per cent) and Nodic Micro with a five per cent stake.
The trading of shares will allow for exit and entry of shareholders and
price discovery.
gngigi@ke.nationmedia.com
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