Stake of banking executive Gideon Muriuki in Kenya’s Co-operative Bank gains $981,331 in 27 days

Omokolade Ajayi -

The equity stake of top Kenyan executive Gideon Muriuki in Co-operative Bank of Kenya has increased in value by $981,331 since the start of June.

Co-operative Bank of Kenya is a commercial bank that operates in East Africa, using the cooperative model to transform its stakeholders socially and economically through innovative financial solutions.

The bank has a deep customer base of 8.8 million in Kenya and a total asset base of Ksh457.1 billion.

As of the opening of trade this morning, the bank’s shares were trading at $0.12 (Ksh13.05) per share, 4.4-percent higher than its opening price of $0.116 (Ksh12.50) for 2021 on the Nairobi Stock Exchange.

The gains can be linked to sustained buying interest on the Nairobi bourse despite a decline in the bank’s profits in its Q1 2021 earnings report.

According to Reuters, Co-operative Bank of Kenya declared that its net interest income in Q1 2021 rose to $91.14 million (Ksh 9.83 billion) from $69.72 million (Ksh7.52 billion) in Q1 2020.

Meanwhile, its pretax profits in Q1 2021 fell to $46.17 million (Ksh4.98 billion) from $47.47 million (Ksh5.12 billion) in the comparable quarter of 2020.

Despite this bland performance, the bank’s share price increased from $0.112 (Ksh12.10) per share to $0.121 (Ksh13.05) per share between June 1 and 28.

This indicates that since the opening of trade this month on the NSE, shares in the bank have increased by 7.41 percent, thus accruing impressive returns for shareholders.

Muriuki, who was appointed group managing director in 2001, holds an essential position in the bank.

As of December 2020, the executive held a two-percent stake in the bank, or 117,471,300 ordinary shares.

The market value of his stake has increased from $13.25 million (Ksh1.43 billion) to $14.23 million (Ksh1.53 billion) between June 1 and 28.

This translates to a gain of $980,000 (Ksh105.72 million) in 27 days for the executive, who joined Co-operative Bank in 1996 as a senior corporate manager.