Stockbrokers at the Nairobi Securities Exchange. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Prices of nearly all listed banks fell in the five days to last
Friday on Parliament’s failure to review the rate cap, with three
extending the losses on Monday.
The biggest loser was HF Group
whose stock fell 9.15 per cent. The largest commercial banks by market cap and total assets, Equity and KCB Group , shaved off 0.56 and five per cent respectively. Only Equity and National Bank
managed marginal recovery on Monday.
NIC Bank
share fell 4.84 per cent while Stanbic lost four per cent during the
five days. Other banks whose share prices fell were Barclays , DTB and StanChart while that of Coop Bank
gained only to lose on Monday.
In its analysis, Standard Investment Bank attributed the latest
fall in prices at the Nairobi Securities Exchange to the National
Assembly’s move to keep the restriction on the lending rate unchanged.
Parliament, however, reviewed the floor on deposit rates, allowing each
bank to fix it.
“Generally, banks have continued to
experience downward pressure, as investors react negatively to
Parliament’s rejection of the proposed rate cap repeal as envisioned in
the Finance Bill 2018,” said SIB in its analysis.
KCB’s five per cent share price fall wiped out the gains earned year-to-date mainly on foreign investor selling.
“Overall,
investors maintained their bearish outlook on bank stocks due to the
absence of the rate cap repeal as envisioned in Finance Bill 2018,” said
SIB.
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