Banking stocks continue sell-off as rate cap weighs on sentiment

What you need to know:

  • KCB was selling at Sh27, Equity Bank at Sh29.50, Coop at Sh10.80, NIC at Sh24, StanChart at Sh190, I&M at Sh87 and Housing Finance at Sh13.95 as at 11.30 AM.

Banking stock prices fell for the second day running on Friday morning led by the largest three banks including Equity Bank losing 9.92 per cent, Cooperative bank 9.62 per cent, and KCB 10.00 per cent.

By 11.30 AM, NIC bank had also lost 9.43 per cent, Housing Finance 9.71 per cent, Standard Chartered 6.86 per cent and I&M had shed off 9.84 per cent with Barclays losing 8.75 per cent.

KCB was selling at Sh27, Equity Bank at Sh29.50, Coop at Sh10.80, NIC at Sh24, StanChart at Sh190, I&M at Sh87 and Housing Finance at Sh13.95 as at 11.30 AM.

The fall comes after Wednesday’s assent by President Uhuru Kenyatta to a bill limiting lending rates to four percentage points above the base rate and providing a floor for deposits at 70 per cent of the same base rate.

Following the move, the banks share prices had also lost ground on Thursday, with most losing about 10 per cent of their value.

On Friday, Barclays had lost a further 2.26 per cent. CfC Stanbic Bank and DTB’s share prices remained steady at Sh73.50 and Sh142 respectively.

DTB released its six-month financial results on Thursday, showing that it had made a net profit of Sh3.62 billion against Sh2.97 billion in the same period last year – a 21.9 per cent growth.