NSE weekly catch up: Equity, EA Cables release FY

Another low week (2,848 close), but I think Equity has brought a little cheer back into the bourse and will spar some little upward momentum for a few weeks. BBK announces on Tuesday and EABL announces interim numbers on Friday and KCB possibly the Friday after. On the negative side of the account, the Nyaga saga has really exposed us to what many of us feared was going on and from now onwards, no conspiracy will sound too outlandish. Some very practical steps for safeguarding your NSE pocket. No more calling broker dealers to place your orders, it was always there but its become a convenient way for dealers to eat your funds. Like JM's comment too.

EA Cables announced full year PAT of Ksh462m, 12% higher than prior year. Its a good result given the challenges rote by high copper and aluminium prices, high utility (elecritricity and fuel) costs and and a very competitive market in a generally lacklustre economic year. Its strategy to spread into the rest of EA actually held it in good stead. For 2009, with much lower commodity prices, I'd expect to 20%+ year on year growth. DPS will be Ksh1, 10% higher than prior year.

Equity's FY is analysed here. It bears repeating. Non-shareholders might be happy at a chance to get the stock at very low prices, but for us existing shareholders, it leaves us cold because it adds risk that wasn't really necessary. The history of spilts at the NSE is almost exclusively a bearish one.

Unga saw 33% turnover growth apparently wiped out by fx and will miss FY by 25%. Very strange especially as one would assume scarcity in maize would equate to better gross margins.

Other Markets:

Gold is fast approaching $1,000 as investors survey other instruments' waastelands. FTSE is in a bit of a lull at the moment. I think many were hoping for greater detail around the Obama plan which as yet seems as muddled as Hank Poulson's botch-up last year. Lloyds TSB is now caught in the short-sellers' sights following HBOS' update.

NSE weekly catch up: Results season kicks off

If you were looking to buy to take advantage of capital growth induced by the results season which kicked off yesterday until end of March, then you may well have missed the bus on some shares:

Equity was up 22% from Monday and there was this intriguing foreigner sale which no Media house or broker seems to have commented on...
AK was up 12% and has a lot of momentum for the rest of the year in my opinion
EA Cables was up 11% and is another (together with Centum-up 10%) which I see having a solid year shareprice-wise
Unga with results already out and its 1 for 5 bonus issue closure day behind it (30/12), will probably slide slowly (down 7% since Monday).

AIM corner:
Any prospective shareholders of Limuru Tea? I forgot to mention that the Tea firm (which now belongs to Brooke Bond given Unilever had a 54% holding), is doing a 1 for 1 bonus share issue. For which the books closed on the 18th of Dec :-(
However, City Trust (minority shareholder of fast rising I&M bank), is also doing a 1 for 10 bonus share issue and this is still open.

AOB: Nice of Reuters to highlight what a miserable yr 2008 was for us NSE investors. Not sure though where BDA got its 3.3% rise for Equity in 2008 (opening price was Ksh150, closing was Ksh176).

Macro view: I still read press reports that peeps are not getting the cheaper Ugali, so who is? Hopefully, we'll get a decent finance minister this year though that will have to wait for the old man to wake up.

NSE update

NSE has gained 10% on its opening position on Monday as investors see the light at the end of the tunnel on the political front. Given;

1. its the results season and bumper dividends, bonus issues and even rights issues are expected to be announced
2. other longer-types of investments are on-hold because of the ethnic cleansingthe NSE should bounce back to its 5,500 level IF a mutually agreeable position is found next week.

EA Cable announced 41% rise in its PBT, against a background of rising copper prices and increased finance costs due to its loan for its new plant in Industrail Area. At current share price, there is an instant 10% gain to be made over the next month not to mention a DPS of 90 cents. Fibre optics will be here next yr, so its also worth it for medium and long-term investors.

Unga announced yet another earnings warning, no surprise given the RV upheavals.

Sassini is begging the CMA not to fine it for being late with its annual results. Kwani? Its as if it didn't know that year end had arrived...