Top NSE investors to earn Sh1bn in bank dividends

Equity Group Holdings CEO James Mwangi is set to earn Sh433.2 million for his 6.5 per cent stake in Equity.
Mombasa-based billionaires the Bablas, Andrew Kimani, and the family of the late Philip Ndegwa follow in the list respectively.
The Bablas are expecting a combined dividend of Sh163 million from their interests in KCB and Equity.
Mr Kimani is set to earn Sh162.6 million for his 2.4 per cent interest in Equity, while the Ndegwa family is in line to pocketing Sh160 million from their ownership of a 25 per cent stake in NIC Bank.

Record bank profits and subsequent declaration of generous dividends has left 14 top individual investors en-route to earning a combined Sh1.1 billion in the coming weeks.

The dividend windfall is based on the results of Equity, Barclays, NIC, CfC Stanbic and DTB banks, which have announced their 2014 performance.

Further announcements in coming days will grow the pot of some of these investors even larger.

Equity Group Holdings CEO James Mwangi tops the list of those on course to earning millions of shillings in dividends, commanding a third of the anticipated payday.

Mombasa-based billionaires the Bablas, Andrew Kimani, and the family of the late Philip Ndegwa follow in the list respectively.

Institutional investors also make the list of those set to walk away with millions of shillings from the huge earnings of the banking sector, which has emerged as one of the most profitable segments of the economy.

Mr Mwangi is arguably the dividend king, who is set to earn Sh433.2 million for his 6.5 per cent stake in Equity, which has reported the largest net profit of Sh17.1 billion. His 6.5 per cent interest in the bank includes a 1.62 per cent shareholding by his wife Jane Njuguna.

READ: Mwangi family’s fortune in Equity tops Sh12bn

The Bablas are ranked second, with the family expecting a combined dividend of Sh163 million from their interests in KCB and Equity.

The investors have been accumulating banking stocks in the past few years, a move that has seen them rank among the largest individual investors in Kenya’s two largest lenders.

Mr Kimani is set to earn Sh162.6 million for his 2.4 per cent interest in Equity, which has proposed the largest absolute dividend payout of Sh6.6 billion.

KCB, which was previously the most profitable bank, will follow with a Sh6 billion payout, representing 36 per cent of the Sh16.8 billion net profit it made last year.

Meanwhile, the Ndegwa family is in line to pocketing Sh160 million from their ownership of a 25 per cent stake in NIC Bank, which will pay a total of Sh640 million in dividends.

The dividend is particularly rewarding for NIC shareholders, including the Ndegwas, who last year pumped an extra Sh2.1 billion into the company to fund its growth plans.

The additional funding, in the form of a rights issue, was in effect a dilution of past returns including dividends. NIC is betting on the new funds to grow its earnings in the coming years and ultimately reward shareholders with higher dividends and capital gains.READ MORE