NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenya’s Centum Investment Co PLC said on Tuesday it booked a pretax loss of 696.6 million shillings ($6.19 million) for its first half through September, compared with a 2.05 billion shilling loss in the same period a year earlier.
Centum, which invests in listed firms and private companies, said its investment income rose to 771.2 million shillings from 433.5 million shillings the year before.
Centum’s net asset value per share, a key measure of performance for investment firms, stood at 62.09 shillings, down from 68.14 shillings reported in the same period last year.
Like other companies in Kenya, Centum’s 2020 performance was battered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, the east African country’s economic output contracted https://www.reuters.com/article/kenya-economy-idUSL1N2QB0KN for the first time in nearly three decades.
“We have seen improved performance in the first half from the various business segments as they recover and the economy rebounds from the impact of the Covid pandemic,” Centum said in a statement.
Centum’s real estate business halved its six-month loss to 142 million shillings from 280 million shillings. Two Rivers Development Ltd, one of its flagship property developers, posted a loss of 342 million shillings, compared with 1 billion shillings in the same period last year.
The company’s trading business posted a 255 million shilling profit, compared to a loss of 317 million shillings in the same period of 2020.
Centum’s performance is closely watched by investors as the company offers exposure to opportunities such as shopping mall developments and listed and unlisted companies across East Africa.
($1 = 112.4500 Kenyan shillings)
(Reporting by Ayenat Mersie; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Subhranshu Sahu)
