Nairobi Securities exchange listed downstream oil marketer KenolKobil will open not less than 30 new service stations this year to boost sales volumes, its CEO David Ohana has told Reuters.
The company was one of the best-performing stocks on the Nairobi bourse last year after it reduced debt and cut its financing, improving margins and earnings.
In its full year 2016 financial results released two weeks ago, Kenol Kobil posted solid earnings with profits before tax increasing by 27.16 percent to Ksh 3.5 Billion while revenues also increased by 19.6% to Ksh 103.5 billion.
KenolKobil also operates in Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Zambia. Ohana said about 25 of the new stations will be in Kenya, where the economy is expanding by more than 5 percent per year.
The company, which has a 15 percent market share in Kenya with 200 service stations, partners with individuals who hold long-term leases on the sites.
“In terms of capital, it is nothing,” Ohana, a former major in the Israeli military who has lived in Africa for 15 years, said of the planned stations.
“If in the future we have an opportunity to venture into South Africa, which is a mature market like Kenya, we will be happy to venture, either in partnership or alone,” he said.
Source; Reuters
