Traders at the Nairobi Securities Exchange in Nairobi . FILE PHOTO | NMG Foreign investors have sold Sh11.34 billion shares in KCB Group in the last two and half years, cutting their stake to a low of 16.36 per cent as local institutional investors tightened grip on Kenya’s top lender.
The bank’s latest shareholder profile dated June 2020 shows that foreign investors now hold 525.59 million shares.
This is in contrast with the 896.79 million shares or 29.25 per cent of the total that were in the hands of foreigners at the end of December 2017.
The latest profile shows that foreigners now hold the smallest stake in KCB after local institutional investors (37.48 per cent), local individuals (26.4 per cent) and National Treasury (19.76 per cent).
The structure differs with that of end of 2017 when foreigners were the top shareholders.
Between March and June—the period which coincides with onset and spread of Covid-19 cases in Kenya—foreigners sold 87.89 million shares valued at Sh2.68 billion when calculated using Friday’s closing price of Sh30.55.
The sales are in line with Capital Markets Authority (CMA) data that shows that foreign investor net-sales at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) hit Sh21.43 billion in six months to June.
Collectively, foreign investors have now sold 371.2 million shares in KCB between December 2017 and last June, helping local and institutional investors to deepen their stake in the bank.
Local institutional investors have emerged as the biggest winners during this period as they added 579.8 million shares to close June with 1.204 billion shares.
