Kenyan tycoon Andrew Ndegwa earns $1.4 million as NCBA shares rise above 25-shilling mark

Kenyan multimillionaire Andrew Ndegwa has earned $1.39 million (KSh152.47 million) in the past 113 days as shares in the Kenya-based NCBA Group rose above the 25-shilling mark ($0.2279).

NCBA Group Plc is an East African financial services conglomerate headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya.

Aside from its operations in Kenya, the group has an operational footprint in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda and Cote D’Ivoire.

Ndegwa, a director on the board of NCBA Group, holds a beneficial interest of 4.3 percent, or 70,909,968 ordinary shares.

The million-dollar gain in his stake came from an increase in the share price of the leading financial services group on the Nairobi bourse, as investors and bargain hunters take positions in the company.

Recently, shares in the conglomerate have increased by nearly double digits, as investors on the Nairobi Stock Exchange acquired additional stakes.

The recent buying interest follows a decline in the group’s shares below the 25-shilling ($0.2279) mark in May.

Data retrieved from the Nairobi bourse revealed that NCBA shares have increased from KSh24.35 ($0.2219) on May 3 to KSh26.50 ($0.2415) as of press time, 11:02 AM (UTC), Aug. 25, accruing gains of nearly nine percent for the shareholders in 113 days.

The nine-percent price increase sent the market value of Ndegwa’s stake up from KSh1.73 billion ($15.74 billion) on May 3 to KSh1.88 billion ($17.13 million).

This translates to a gain of $1.39 million (KSh152.47 million) for the multimillionaire businessman.

What’s worth noting

Investor buying interest in NCBA, which led to the recent increase in its share price, can be linked to expectations for an improved half-year financial performance, as the public digests the group’s first-quarter financial results.

NCBA recorded a profit of $26.31 million (KSh2.84 billion) in Q1 2021, which translates to an increase of 74 percent compared to the $14.82 million (KSh1.6 billion) in profits that it posted in Q1 2020.

Its total assets grew by six percent to $5.02 billion (KSh542 billion), while customer deposits increased by 11 percent thanks to strong business development efforts that attracted new customers to the group.