In our Cytonn Report this week, we analysed the performance of Kenya’s Equities, Fixed Income and the
Real Estate markets for the week ended, with a special focus on Kenya’s listed Banks performance in
FY’2024. Below are the highlights;
a) Fixed Income:
This week, T-bills were oversubscribed for the third consecutive week, with the overall subscription rate
coming in at 142.4%, albeit lower than the subscription rate of 179.7% recorded the previous week.
Investors’ preference for the shorter 91-day paper persisted, with the paper receiving bids worth Kshs 4.5
bn against the offered Kshs 4.0 bn, translating to a subscription rate of 113.2%, significantly lower than
the oversubscription rate of 202.2%, recorded the previous week. The subscription rates for the 182-day
increased to 113.9% from the 53.6% recorded the previous week, while the 364-day papers decreased to
182.7% from the 296.8% respectively recorded the previous week. The government accepted a total of
Kshs 29.9 bn worth of bids out of Kshs 34.2 bn bids received, translating to an acceptance rate of 87.6%.
The yields on the government papers registered a mixed performance with the yields on the 91-day
paper decreasing the most by 4.7 bps to 8.3% from the 8.4% recorded the previous week, the yields on
the 182-day paper decreased by 0.8 bps to 8.57% from the 8.58% recorded the previous week while the
yields on the 364-day paper increased by 0.04 bps to remain relatively unchanged from the 10.0%
recorded the previous week.
Also, we are projecting the y/y inflation rate for May 2025 to increase marginally to within the range of
4.2% - 4.5% mainly on the back of increased forex adjustment charges on electricity, coupled with the
decrease in the Central Bank Rate (CBR) by 75.0 bps to 10.00% from 10.75%.
b) Equities:
During the week, the equities market was on a downward trajectory, with NSE 20, NASI and NSE 25 each
losing by 0.3% while NSE 10 lost by 0.2%, taking the YTD performance to gains of 6.8%, 6.4%, 3.5% and
3.0% for NASI, NSE 20, NSE 25 and NSE 10. The equities market performance was driven by losses
recorded by large-cap stocks such as Stanbic, KCB and EABL of 12.4%, 4.8% and 1.2%, respectively. The
performance was however supported by gains recorded by large cap stock such as DTB-K, Absa and NCBA
of 4.8%, 3.8% and 2.0%;
Additionally, in the regional equities market, the East African Exchanges 20 (EAE 20) share index lost by
0.2% to 100.0 from 100.1 recorded the previous week, attributable to losses recorded by large cap stocks
such as the Airtel Uganda, Absa Bank Kenya and CRDB Bank of 6.1%, 2.1% and 1.5% respectively, the
performance was however supported by gains recorded by large cap stocks such as gains recorded by
large cap stocks such as the Bank of Baroda Uganda, The Co-operative Bank of Kenya and Bralirwa
Limited of 10.8%, 9.1% and 7.8 % respectively;
During the week Standard Chartered Bank Kenya released their Q1’2025 financial results, highlighting
that Profit After Tax (PAT) decreased by 13.5% to Kshs 4.9 bn, from Kshs 5.6 bn in Q1’2024. The
performance was mainly driven by a 11.2% decrease in Total Operating Income to Kshs 11.6 bn, from
Kshs 13.1 bn in Q1’2024, which outpaced the 8.7% decrease in Total Operating expense to Kshs 5.0 bn in
Q1’2025, from Kshs 5.4 bn in Q1’2024;
During the week KCB Group released their Q1’2025 financial results, highlighting that their profit after tax
(PAT) increased by 0.4% to Kshs 16.54 bn, from Kshs 16.48 bn in Q1’2024. The performance was mainly
driven by a 2.0% increase in Total Operating Income to Kshs 49.4 bn, from Kshs 48.5 bn in Q1’2024, which
was weighed down by the 3.4% increase in Total Operating expense to Kshs 28.3 bn in Q1’2025, from
Kshs 27.3 bn in Q1’2024;
During the week NCBA Group released their Q1’2025 financial results, highlighting that their profit after
tax (PAT) increased by 3.4% to Kshs 5.5 bn, from Kshs 5.3 bn in Q1’2024. The performance was mainly
driven by a by 8.5% increase in total operating income to Kshs 17.3 bn, from Kshs 16.0 bn in Q1’2024,
which outpaced the 11.3% increase in total operating expenses to Kshs 10.5 bn, from Kshs 9.4 bn in
Q1’2024;
c) Real Estate:
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During the week, President William Ruto officiated the handover of 1,080 housing units at the Mukuru
Affordable Housing Project in Nairobi’s Embakasi South, marking a pivotal moment in Kenya’s housing
sector. Spanning 56 acres, this ambitious initiative, the largest of its kind in the country, aims to deliver
13,248 units by March 2026;
During the week, property developer Mi Vida Homes announced a strategic partnership with Space
Master Properties to construct Habitat, a 24-story mixed-use facility along Ralph Bunche Road in
Nairobi’s Westlands. This ambitious project, developed in collaboration with Parklane Construction,
marks a pioneering effort in Kenya’s real estate market by integrating healthcare with residential and
commercial spaces. The development will feature 42 medical suites for sale to healthcare providers, a
residential component with assisted living options, and retail areas, targeting Nairobi’s growing medical
tourism sector;
On the Unquoted Securities Platform, Acorn D-REIT and I-REIT traded at Kshs 25.4 and Kshs 22.2 per
unit, respectively, as per the last updated data on 23 rd May 2025. The performance represented a 27.0%
and 11.0% gain for the D-REIT and I-REIT, respectively, from the Kshs 20.0 inception price. Additionally,
ILAM Fahari I-REIT traded at Kshs 11.0 per share as of 23 rd May 2025, representing a 45.0% loss from the
Kshs 20.0 inception price. The volume traded to date came in at Kshs 1.2 mn shares for the I-REIT since
inception in November 2015.
d) Focus of the Week:
According to the ACTSERV Q1’2025 Pension Schemes Investments Performance Survey, segregated
retirement benefits scheme quarterly returns increased to a 7.1% return in Q1’2025, up from the 6.0%
gain recorded in Q1’2024. The y/y growth in overall returns was largely driven by the 4.9% points
increase in returns from Fixed Income to 7.8% from a gain of 2.9% in Q1’2024. The schemes overall
performance is attributable to increased investments in government securities to lock in the higher yields
in anticipation of further yield declines driven by the CBK’s expected continued monetary policy easing.
The performance was however weighed down the low Equities returns of 4.6%, compared to a 25.6%
return in Q1’2024. Notably, on a q/q basis the segregated retirement benefits schemes recorded a
decline in returns from a gain of 13.2% in Q4’2024. This week, we shall focus on understanding
Retirement Benefits Schemes and look into the quarterly performance and current state of retirement
benefits schemes in Kenya with a key focus on Q1’2025;
Click the link below to read the Cytonn Weekly report: https://cytonnreport.com/research/the-
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