Unga Group Plc was the top price loser when trading at the Nairobi Securities Exchange(NSE) ended on Friday last week.
The counter posted an 11.95% share price decline to end the week at KSh 28.00 per share from the KSh 31.80 recorded at the close of the previous trading week.
The drop in Unga Group Plc shares at the bourse came as investors reacted to news that the regional milling giant was shutting down its bakery business, which has become unsustainable.
Unga Group to lay off staff
Unga Group said its revenues had also been affected by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, stiff competition from local brands, and imported grains from Uganda. The firm said the Government has also not paid for grains supplied three years ago as part of its maize subsidy program.
Unga Group Plc has lost 5.25% of its stock value from April 22nd to date.
Its share price has lost 11.95% over the past week, 5.25% in the past month, 12.50% in the last three months and 6.82%over the past six months, and 0.36% over the past year, as well as an 11.95% drop in YTD performance.
Unga Group began the year with a share price of KSh 31.80 but has since lost 11.95% off that price valuation, ranking it 50th on the NSE in terms of year-to-date performance. With a market capitalization of KSh 2.12 Billion and Earnings per Share of KSh 4.52, the firm has lost 5.25% of the stock’s value from April 22nd 2021 to date.
Sources within the milling firm confirmed that a staff layoff program had been initiated that will affect permanent staff. This exercise is expected to terminate at the end of June 2021.
Unga Group Plc Limited is an agricultural holding company in Kenya that mills wheat and maize and processes baked products and animal nutrition and health products.
Its subsidiaries include Unga Limited, Unga Farm Care (EA) Limited, Ennsvalley Bakery Limited and Unga Millers (Uganda) Limited.
Over 90% of products are produced for the Kenyan domestic market, with some exports to Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda.
The NSE All-Share Index was flat during the week, closing at 165.76 basis points. This was equivalent to a 4-week loss of 0.13% but an overall year-to-date gain of 8.97%. The NSE25 share index was down by 0.18 points or 0.01% from last week’s close to stand at 3,586.44. The NSE 20 has shed 0.51%, while the NSE25 has gained up to 5.01% in year-to-date performance.
Volume of shares traded for the week stood at 93.17 million shares, a 14.9% increase compared to a volume of 81.09 million shares transacted in the previous week.
The bourse’s equity turnover for the week was up by 4.21% to KSh 3.18 Billion from last week’s KSh 3.05 Billion.
The telecommunications sector was the week’s top mover, accounting for 81.49% of the week’s traded value with 66.9 million shares valued at KSh 2.5 Billion transacted. Safaricom was up 0.25% to close the week at KSh 39.50 per share, up from KSh 30.80 per share registered at the end of the week prior.
The Banking Sector was the second most active with shares valued at KSh 393 Million transacted. This accounted for 12.36% of the week’s traded value.
Equity Group Holdings Plc was up by 1.34% in share price appreciation to KSh41.50, up from KSh40.95 registered the previous week with shares worth KSh189 Million transacted.
KCB Group Plc, however, closed the week lower, declining by 2.26% to KSh 41.00 with 3.4 Million shares valued at KSh 139 Million transacted.
Co-operative Bank slipped by 1.61% after releasing the Q1 performance to KSh 12.25 per share by the close of trading Friday. For the week, the bank had 2.7 million shares valued at KSh33 Million traded. Co-operative Bank posted a 3.7% y/y decline in after-tax profits to KSh 3.5 Billion compared to KSh 3.6 Billion in Q1, 2020.
Uchumi Supermarkets Plc was the week’s top gainer at the bourse, adding 13.04% in share price appreciation to close the week at KSh 0.26 per share from the KSh 0.23 per share posted the prior week.
The Derivatives Market at the bourse ended the week with 271 contracts valued at KSh 9.8 Million transacted compared to 203 contracts valued at KSh8.2 Million posted the prior week.
The Secondary Bond Market recorded a 5.63% rise in activity with KSh22.39 Billion worth of bonds traded against KSh 21.19 Billion value of bonds transacted the prior week.
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