NAIROBI, Kenya – Uchumi Supermarket has made an unexpected leap on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), ranking among the top five movers of the week that ended Friday despite its ongoing financial struggles.
The beleaguered retailer moved an impressive 870,400 shares, joining the ranks of heavyweights such as Safaricom, KCB, Equity Bank, and Co-operative Bank.
In addition to trading volume, Uchumi’s stock recorded a modest gain of 3.2 percent, closing the week at Sh0.32.
This performance also placed the supermarket chain among the week’s top five gainers, signaling cautious optimism from investors.
The retailer has seen slow but steady growth in its share price as investors bet on potential capital injection to stabilize the company.
The gains follow a meeting held by Uchumi’s leadership on March 13 to address its financial woes.
The meeting came after the company entered a voluntary arrangement to restructure its debts in a bid to stay afloat.
Meanwhile, Unga Group continued its upward trajectory, bolstered by a return to profitability after nearly three years of losses.
The animal and human food processor saw its share price climb 8.48 percent to close the week at Sh24.95.
Investors have enjoyed a Sh2 per share increase in paper wealth over the past fortnight, following the company’s Sh82 million profit for the first half of the financial year.
This marks a dramatic recovery from a Sh346.1 million loss during the previous year.
Market watchers are also keeping an eye on Equity Bank, which is expected to announce record-breaking profits for the year ending December 31, 2024.
The announcement is likely to drive trading activity further, especially after other leading banks like KCB, Co-operative Bank, and Standard Chartered dominated trading in recent weeks.
Centum PLC also made headlines with a 2.75 percent rise in its share price, driven by its ambitious Sh387 billion partnership with Arise, an African industrial ecosystem developer.
The initiative, focused on the Vipingo Special Economic Zone on Kenya’s coast, aims to create 500,000 jobs, adding to the bullish sentiment surrounding the stock.
