The ugly: Both the Sunday Nation and Sunday Standard reported that a second raid was planned for Friday night, but was aborted by the heavy rains and traffic jams that shut the city till late at night.
The Bad: The mzungu used the N word as he marshalled his troops around the Standard offices during the raid. Sounds like a bad parody of a mercenary or is it the real thing?
The Good: The sale of Kengen shares to the public was accelerated and made as democratic as possible – with minimum lots of 500 (at an investment cost of 5,950 shillings) and a guarantee that small investors will be assured of receiving their shares.

Just as Anglo Leasing attention was diverted immediately by the release of the Goldenberg report, in a smart move, the Standard raid will be followed by the Kengen IPO, the largest in Kenya’s history. This is not the first time this has happened as additional KCB shares were sold to the public in 1990’s to as a way of deflecting political heat from the Government. Look for more advertisements from the office of public communications trumpeting that “this is the government that gave ordinary Kenyans a chance to buy shares in Kengen & Telkom”.

Standard Chartered in 2005
Loan portfolio increased by 3b to 59.7 billion willing but fee & commission income dropped from 2.04 to 1.98 billion shillings. Of the top 3 banks (Standard Chartered, KCB and Barclays) only KCB recorded increased commission & fee income in 2005, which can likely be attributed to its new partnership with Western Union.

Net interest income increased from 2b to 3.3 billion while interest in government securities in which the Bank is heavily invested (24b shillings, equivalent to 70% of loan book) increased slightly from 1.84b to 1.99b.

Still, after tax profit increased from 1.83 to 2.44 b and the total dividend for the year will be 7.5 shillings per shares (out of EPS of 8.69), which is up from 6.5 in 2004. The final dividend of 3.10 per share will be paid after June 2 to shareholders (books close March 31) and the company’s AGM will be held at the Intercontinental Hotel on May 31. Long serving Chairman, Mr. H Awori will be retiring after the AGM. Preference  shareholders will be paid a 6% dividend as well on April 3.

Uchumi
Uchumi halved its six-month loss from a year ago but is still struggling. Half year sales of 1.8b were exceeded by purchase costs of 1.4b and operating costs of 681 million shillings. The 6-month loss in December was 362 million, an improvement from 632m in December 2004.

Shareholder services
CFC Financial Services has announced that they will remain open on Saturday’s until the Kengen IPO period ends. The bank has also opened offices in Eldoret and Kisumu to serve shareholders in Rift Valley and Western Kenya.

There is a shortage of stockbrokers outside Nairobi and Mombasa and this could start a trend as the demand for such services has increased since CDS trading began and now with the Kengen IPO. It would be nice to see some partnerships between stockbrokers and banks that have huge branch networks. E.g. Dyer & Blair setting up part-time desks in branches of National Bank or Postbank on some days of the month to serve shareholders in rural areas.

Jobs
The African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI/ACA) is hiring commercial & political risk underwriters. More details at www.africa_ECA.com and apply at Recruitment@Africa_ECA.com by March 31.

Housing Finance Company of Kenya is hiring
– business development manager (Ref HF/401)
– information system auditor (HF/504)
– relationship officer (HF/610)
– legal assistant (HF/809)
Apply by March 17 to human.resources@housing.co.ke

East African Breweries is hiring
– sales information & administration manager
– trade marketing manager
Applicants must have university degree in business or sales and 5 years successful experience in trade marketing, sales or marketing at an FMGC. Apply by 15 March to hrrecruitment@eabl.com

The Louis Berger Group is seeking infrastructure consultants to work in the Sudan. Current positions open are;
– chief of party
– senior engineer
– manager finance & administration
– manager acquisition/procurement
– other engineering professionals
Applicants must have bachelor’s degree and 5 years relevant experience. More details at www.louisberger.com and applications can be sent to staffing@louisberger.com.

Events
The Vagina Day monologues will be held at the Carnivore on Tuesday March 7 from 7 p.m., entry is 500/=. I saw it once, two years ago with a lot of beer, and I am told if you’ve seen it once, you’ve seen it all, since I’m told that local producers are not allowed to adapt/add new material to the event and must stay true to Eve Ensler’s book.