Daily Monitor: - Commodities |Centum trades shares at USE

"Centum, East Africa’s largest listed investment company, became the seventh firm to sell shares on the Uganda Securities Exchange yesterday.

The Kenya-based firm cross-listed 605 million shares on the domestic bourse from the Nairobi Stock Exchange, making it the 14th company to be traded at the exchange.

To promote frequent trading of its shares, Centum offered Ugandan investors four million for purchase at market prices. The offer marked a major shift in cross listings at the bourse.

They are usually marked by mere transfer of shares from Nairobi to Kampala with limited liquidity at their counters thereafter.

The company’s share price opened at Shs665 and oscillated to Shs670. But the price closed at Shs668 based on the weighted average calculated by the USE.
About 836,500 shares had been traded by close of the day’s trading session.
The cross-listing gives domestic investors a new option of investment lines in which they can either save or where they can earn money from.

Centum’s line of investments includes; private equity, listed private equity, real estate and infrastructure.

The company holds significant ownership in firms like; Mount Kenya and Nairobi Bottlers, UAP Holdings, General Motors East Africa, and Longhorn Publishers.
“By investing in one share of Centum, you don’t have to invest in many sectors because Centum invests in a diversified area of ventures,” said the firm’s chief executive, Mr James Mworia at a news conference in Kampala yesterday.
He added that the firm had already invested Shs35 billion in a real estate project in Uganda as part of its regional expansion drive.

The company’s portfolio is currently valued at over Shs322 billion and consists broadly of investments in private equity.

About 60 per cent of the company’s business is equity investments with notable investments in the financial and beverage sectors.

At the conference, Mr James Muguiyi, the chairman board of directors, Centum Investment, said the cross listing is meant to offer more investors across East Africa an opportunity to access a diversified portfolio of highly profitable investments.

The company plans to cross list its shares on the Rwanda and Dar es Salaam Stock Exchanges next year according to Mr Mworia.

Mr Joseph Kitamirike, the chief executive officer of the USE applauded Centum’s move to offer shares for trading in Uganda.

As a result he said: “We shall be proposing changes in the rules governing cross listing on the USE to provide incentives to those companies that choose to deliver shares here in Uganda shillings.”

“USE expects that these rules will be approved by June this year,” he added.

Daily Monitor: - Commodities |Centum trades shares at USE:
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