Author: David Indeje

KQ, Kenya’s national airline, has cut its New York flights to one weekly as a surge in COVID-19 cases dents bookings since resuming operations in November. Allan Kilavuka, KQ chief executive officer said the fragile travel industry has seen a worsening dip in demand due to implementation and reinstatement of travel restrictions in various countries in response to the second wave of Coronavirus. Consequently, passengers have scaled down their travel plans leading to subdued demand. “As Kenya Airways, we have responded to this by reducing capacity deployment in some key markets such as the UK and the US. We have…

Limuru Tea Company says it expects to record a decline in net profits for the financial year ended 31st December 2020 due to rising cost of production and a global downturn. “The board is of the view that the estimated decrease for the period is due to lower tea prices that were realized in 2020 on account of the rising cost of production and a global downturn triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Alison I.N Kariuki, the listed firm’s Company Secretary. https://twitter.com/tradingroomke/status/1362287205444702213?s=20 The listed firm is an outgrower to Unilever Tea Kenya Limited. It posted a pre-tax loss of Ksh…

British American Tobacco Kenya (BAT) posted a 41 per cent growth in profit for the year ended December 31, 2020, to Ksh.5.5 billion from Ksh.3.9 billion in 2019. The higher earnings were attributed to a lower cost base and reduced tax liabilities following relief on corporation tax by the government.  “Net revenue increased by five per cent to Ksh.25.3 billion, driven by higher export revenues and lower excise duty and value-added tax (VAT), which reflects the impact of the decline in domestic sales volumes and the reduction in the rate of VAT in April 2020,” BAT said in a statement…

Kenya and the International Monetary Fund have reached a staff-level agreement on the disbursement of $2.4 billion loan facility. The agreement in principle will see the disbursement of funds from the IMF Rapid Credit Facility (RCF) and the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) over the next 38 months to support the countries COVID-19 response. “The staff-level agreement is subject to IMF management approval and Executive Board consideration, which is expected in the coming weeks.” The latest $2.4 billion funds are in addition to the $739 million that the Fund’s Executive Board approved in 2020, to be drawn under the Rapid Credit…

Fuel prices will witness a surge in February until mid-March signalling tough times ahead for Kenyan consumers. On Sunday, the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) said Super petrol will retail at KSh115.18 in Nairobi following an increase by KSh8.19. Diesel and Kerosene too went up by KSh5.51 and KSh5.32 to retail at KSh101.91 and KSh92.44 per litre respectively. The authority said the price changes which are inclusive of the 8 per cent Value Added Tax had taken into account the weighted average cost of imported refined petroleum products. “Over the same period, the mean monthly US Dollar to Kenya…

UK based insurance firm, Linkham Group, has increased its shareholding in Resolution Insurance after the purchase of 100% of the equity holding in the Kenyan insurance company from private equity impact investment firm, Leapfrog Investments. The company did not disclose the value of the deal and other details. LeapFrog Investments invested Ksh. 1.68b ($US18.7m) for a majority stake in Resolution Insurance in 2015, through its holding company, Resolution Health East Africa Limited. The acquisition will see Resolution Insurance business gain access to Linkham Group’s financial and insurance networks in Africa and across the globe. The acquisition is subject to certain…