Kiharu Member of Parliament Ndindi Nyoro has explained how he became the largest shareholder in Kenya Power. Earlier Kenyans had been accusing Mama Ngina of owning Kenya Power but when the list of shareholders was released,Kenyans were shocked that Nyoro is the one owning the majority of shares in the institution.Nyoro has defended himself by saying this :
NVESTMENTS: Some information was going round yesterday in regards to the list of Kenya Power shareholders. A few things to note.
1. The list was regulatory filings of upto June 30th 2022. This is public information, part of which is usually included in the financial statements.
2. Some shareholders prefer to use their actual names while investing, others use “nominee accounts” to hide identities. We are in the earlier category since we don’t see the need to use the latter one. Majority of the top shareholders have chosen “nominee accounts”. Some are individuals, others pension funds etc.
3. The investment has been accumulated over time. Several years back. We started off in stockbroking from 1st year in campus (KU). Thereafter running a firm in the sector. And later a Private Equity (PE) firm. This specific counter probably for the last 3 or 4 years.
4. GoK owns approx 50.1% of Kenya Power. All directors are therefore appointed by GoK. Our small stake is passive. We make zero decisions and therefore purely a silent, retail investor.
My take – as a Kenyan retail investor (Not as a public officer)
Why the decision to buy Kenya Power.
1. Like any other investment, you make decisions based on fundamentals and gut feeling.
2. The stock is cheap, actually a penny stock. Currently trading at below Ksh 2.
3. With gross full year revenues of Approx Ksh 150 B, assets of around Ksh 325B, probably Kenya Power is undervalued. The market values the company at around 1% of its assets base. The current market capitalisation being at around Ksh 3B.
4. Using the HALF year Financials of upto Dec 2021, where Earning Per Share (EPS) was Ksh 1.96, then the PE ratio is just about 0.5 or half an year. Meaning if the company was to pay all the earnings as Dividends, it would take one 0.5 years to recover the investment.
However, investment decisions are two sided. There are reasons why the Market has undervalued Kenya Power including the high debt Portifolio, huge unpaid bills especially from GoK and inefficiencies stemming from being “government run”.
Most investors, us included are holding for long term with the hope that the sleeping giant can roar with a few streamlining measures.
Lastly,
1. The period we are in is reminiscent to 2002. The Economy was battered and the Securities exchange was bearish. After President Kibaki took over, alot happened that hugely increased the returns of shareholders. I know of an investor in KQ then whose investment of Ksh 500k turned to Ksh 70M. Some Equity Bank and Coop bank shareholders from our Villages became Millionaires out of their investments in the companies especially before listing and immediately after listing.
2. We’ve been here before. Just after campus, we bought CIC shares just before listing, many of us made 500% profit within one year after the company was listed.
3. Our investment strategy is guided by Wareen Buffers Mantra. “Be greedy when others are fearful and fearful when others are greedy”.
Any Kenyan can buy shares. You just need to open a CDS account from a stockbroking firm. Many banks also offer those services.
The information above in casual and one is required to get the correct advice from experts. Above is just based on experiences and gut and therefore not a call to act. I may be right, but may also be wrong. There’s no investment with guaranteed returns as far as investing in stocks is concerned. It’s a matter of finding equilibrium between risk and return based on one’s ability to withstand the outcome.
