Shares of Kenya’s most valuable company, Safaricom Ltd (NSE: SCOM) on Wednesday’s trading session touched an all time of Sh 23, pushing its market capitalization to a record Sh 922 Billion.
During the session, the counter traded 37.1 Million shares valued at Sh 831.2 Million which accounts for 77.22% of the volumes and 62.88% of the value traded at the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The counter closed the day at Sh 22.50 with foreign investors dominating 96 percent of all the activity on Safaricom.
This comes after Vodafone PLC’s recent announcement to transfer its 35 percent stake in Safaricom to its South African unit; Vodacom Group Ltd, a deal that will see M-Pesa expand to a number of African countries apart from South Africa. M-Pesa, the world’s most successful mobile money platform accounts for more than 25 percent of Safaricom’s total revenue.
Shares in Safaricom have risen by more than 32 per cent over the last two months, triggered by the promise of increased returns to shareholders on expansion of M-Pesa and the impressive full year results which outpaced analysts’ expectations. The above deal could also help Safaricom sustain its growth in the longterm as much as its current product line up.
Meanwhile, US based privately owned investment firm, Fidelity Management & Research Co. has revealed that it recently purchased 52.69 Million shares of Safaricom. The firm now holds 630.37 Million shares of Safaricom worth Sh 14.18 Billion as of yesterday’s closing price of Sh 22.50. On the other hand, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, Norges Bank Investment Management reduced its stake in Safaricom by 52 percent having sold 94.98Million shares.
