Suresh Bhagwanji Shah, a prominent Kenyan banking tycoon, is off to a successful start in 2023. Thanks to a significant surge in the share price of I&M Bank Group on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, his stake in the bank has increased by more than $1.4 million since the start of the year.
I&M is the Kenya-based non-operating holding company for I&M Bank Limited, a leading financial services group with active operations in Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda, as well as a joint venture in Mauritius.
Shah, who is credited with transforming I&M into one of East Africa’s leading banking groups, owns a beneficial 10.98-percent stake in the top-performing financial services provider, which translates to 178,514,362 ordinary shares.
Since its founding by Shah in 1974, I&M has expanded its operations to other East African countries. The leading Kenyan banker also owns a majority stake in MTZ Holdings, a newly formed entity that recently purchased Nairobi Business Park, a grade “A” office complex on Nairobi’s Ngong Road, from NBP Holdings Limited.
Shares in the group were worth Ksh18 ($0.143) per share as of press time on Feb. 16, giving the top banking group a market cap of Ksh29.8 billion ($231 million), making the leading financial services provider the eleventh most valuable company on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.
I&M’s shares on the local bourse have increased by 5.88 percent since the beginning of the year, from Ksh17 ($0.135) on Jan. 1 to Ksh18 ($0.143) at the time of writing this report.
As a result of the recent surge in the bank’s share price, the market value of Shah’s stake in the group has increased by Ksh178.5 billion ($1.42 million) since the beginning of the year, from Ksh3.03 billion ($24.16 million) to Ksh3.21 billion ($25.58 million).
