Has Kenya's Capital Market shaken off the post-election crisis pangs?

BAT released excellent results for FY2007. They are introducing new 10-stick packaging ahead of the Anti-tobacco legislation. BTW, BAT recorded the highest PAT in its history even with the pending Anti-Tobacco legislation & ad-hoc by-laws by many municipalities.
P.S. I do not smoke. I think it is a nasty habit. But as an investment... sigh... I struggle... should buy shares I or not?

Co-op Bank plans an IPO in 3Q 2008... yes, the bank that went through a rough patch after the US Embassy bombings in Nairobi is now immensely profitable as agricultural fortunes improve for farmers. My gut feeling is that Co-op Bank needs to clean up their books before the IPO. There are many co-ops & saccos who are in poor shape. The government guarantees & write-offs promised to coffee farmers, etc has definitely bolstered Co-op Bank's balance sheet quality.
They want to raise KShs 5bn to bolster the balance sheet. I like the focus of growth of branches & ATMs. Co-op banks expects PBT to hit KShs 3.5bn during 2008. Not bad!

KCB plans a Rights Issue to raise KShs 5bn in 2Q 2008. It will probably be after the SafCon OFS is completed. No-one wants to go head to head with SafCon... Expansion into E.Africa is on the books.

Olympia Capital is back in the news after a lengthy period of silence after raising KShs 420mn (gross) during its Rights Issue in 3Q 2007. OCC (its 51% subsidiary based in Botswana) is back in the acquisitions game. The SA acquisition of a complementary player in the building sector is expected to close in 2-3 weeks. OCC's largest division is Plush of SA.
OCHL's results are expected by 31 may 2008. The recent fall in price to 11.50 makes it rather attractive considering the Rights were at 14/- just 6 months ago.

Chase Bank owns a broker. Smart purchase back in the day. Suddenly, the bank itself is in play! BTW, Gachui of TransCentury owns shares in the bank. Well... that means, TC could wind up owning a bank & a broker...

BIDCO wants more farmers to grow sunflowers for their Oil plant in Eldoret. I hope Kenyan farmers take up the challenge to reduce dependence on imported cooking oils. There is also demand for cotton seeds for their oil. I think BIDCO will be the next huge firm to go public by 2010.

Essar is making big bets in Kenya. One of them is through Econet & there is the refinery. They are not easy pickings with the Kenyan government hamstringing Econet & the refinery deal. Good luck to them. I do hope Econet can lower the costs of calling in Kenya.

Sasini's coffee shops seem to doing well. Sasini raised 600mn last year to fund expansion. Well,,, good luck to them! I am not a huge fan of Merali firms since they generally perform poorly but Sasini may buck the trend with high coffee prices.

Well... the above is certainly a break from the gloomy stuff of the past few weeks...