NSE chairman Eddy Njoroge (from left), Vision 2030 Secretariat
director-general Mugo Kibati and Home Afrika chairman Lee Karuri during
the bell ringing ceremony, marking the company’s debut at the NSE last
month. FILE
By John Gachiri
Real estate developer Home Afrika’s share price
remained below the Sh12 offer price for the second day running, more
than halving the stock value for investors who bought into the counter
about one-and-a-half month ago.
The share closed at Sh11.10 in Tuesday’s trading, as selling pressure continued to hit the stock.
The share price has been on a gradual fall since its debut in mid-July when it traded at Sh25, albeit on thin volumes.
“Home Afrika continued to witness selling pressure,” said a Monday trading report by the Standard Investment Bank.
Analysts had predicted that the firm’s relatively high price-to-earnings ratio was not sustainable, even though the absence of another listed real estate developer has made comparison with other counters less straight forward.
Standard Investment Bank analysts predicted room for a further drop.
“At Sh12, the counter is now trading on a price-to-book of 10.8 times, price-to-earnings of 30, which seems a generous valuation for an investment holding company, in our view,” said a note by the bank.
A rough a comparison with mortgage providers and
companies heavily investing in real estate shows that Home Afrika’s
price to earnings ratio of 30 is higher than Housing Finance’s 7.53 and
Centum’s 6.30 price to earnings ratios.
The firm’s market capitalisation has dropped to Sh4.49 billion from Sh10.1 billion reached on its July 15 debut.
The real estate sector is, however, expected to improve and the rising tide should lift all boats.
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