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Kenya’s largest listed investment firm, Centum Investment Company, has announced a dividend policy that will see shareholders receive 30 percent of the investment income annually in line with its strategic decision to build up and strengthen its balance sheet.
Centum is a leading East African investment company with investments in real estate and private-equity assets in the consumer goods, financial, agribusiness and power sectors.
The family of late Kenyan businessman Christopher Kirubi controls a 31-percent stake in the company, which amounts to 205,908,205 ordinary shares.
The company emphasized that the policy is integral to its target to maintain a zero long-term debt balance, as it moves to reduce finance costs while reinvesting shareholder capital into portfolio companies to increase value.
So far in 2021, the company has posted a total of Ksh771.1 million ($6.85 million) in investment income, more than 134-percent higher than the Ksh329.1 million ($2.92 million) it reported in the first nine months of 2021.
The new policy’s coming on stream will see shareholders pocket Ksh231 million ($2.05 million) in final dividends next year, Ksh13 million ($115,460) higher than its final dividend of Ksh218 million ($1.94 million) in 2021.
Kenyan businessman James Mworia, the CEO of Centum, announced the dividend policy on Tues., Nov. 30, during an investor briefing. He explained that the policy corresponds with its target to strengthen its balance sheet.
Earlier this week, Centum reported Ksh662.1 million ($5.9 million) in net losses in the half-year period of its current financial year, compared to the Ksh1.98 billion ($17.6 million) in net losses that it posted during the corresponding period of 2021.
The resilient performance was underpinned by increased operating profitability driven by higher investment income, as Centum continued re-balancing its portfolio in line with its capital preservation and liquidity enhancement objectives.
As of press time, Dec. 1, shares in the company were worth Ksh15.1 ($0.1341), 33-basis points higher than their opening price on the Nairobi Stock Exchange this morning.
At the current price, the market value of the stake held by the family of the late billionaire is estimated at Ksh3.11 billion ($27.6 million).
