The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) halted trading in East African Portland Cement claiming unverified information circulated about a potential share transfer.
- •The exchange says the halt was done with CMA as a precaution to maintain orderly trading while the information is reviewed.
- •The bourse says it is engaging the issuer and will issue guidance once the details are confirmed.
- •The halt follows a newspaper notice confirming that Kalahari Cement signed a KSh 1.6B agreement to buy NSSF’s 27% stake in Portland at KSh 66 per share. The investor says it will seek a takeover exemption, will not delist the company and plans to support the company’s turnaround. Portland closed at KSh 66.00 before the halt, the highest level since March 2015.
Uchumi continues its steep run and trades at KSh 0.93, up 9.41%. This is the highest level since January 2019. YTD gains stand at 447%, placing the counter second behind Sameer Africa’s 457%. The stock has now posted nine straight sessions of 7–10% moves.
- •Turnover stands at KSh 1.567B on 42M shares across 4,178 deals. Safaricom leads with KSh 463M, EABL at KSh 285M, KCB at KSh 194M, Equity at KSh 169M and BK Group at KSh 159M.
- •Foreign buys total KSh 650.6M, led by EABL at KSh 192M, BK Group at KSh 159M, Safaricom at KSh 157M and KCB at KSh 120M.
- •Foreign sells stand at KSh 1.147B, with Safaricom at KSh 445M, EABL at KSh 262M, BK Group at KSh 159M, KCB at KSh 114M and Absa at KSh 86M.
The largest single trade is BK Group with 3.978M shares at KSh 40.00 at 12:52 PM. Based on the turnover patterns, the trade appears to be foreign-to-foreign in a block.
The NASI is down 1% after recording its fourth steepest drop of 2025 yesterday.
Top gainers include Portland (+9.54%), Uchumi (+9.41%) and Standard Group (+7.02%).
Losers include Longhorn (–5.57%), Home Afrika (–5.56%) and TPS Serena (–5.04%).
