Puma is a subsidiary of Trafigura, the third largest petroleum trading company in the world which has interests in oil, coal and shipping among others/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 20 – KenolKobil shares are back to trading on the local bourse after the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) gave the Nairobi Securities Exchange(NSE) the go ahead to lift the suspension on the oil marketer on Wednesday.
Last month, the CMA suspended trading of KenolKobil shares on the NSE indefinitely to curb speculative trading, while the company was undergoing an acquisition by Swiss oil firm Puma Energy.
KenolKobil’s shares’ last trading price was Sh12.50 each before the suspension on May 9, and closed at Sh13.05 on Wednesday.
Puma Energy gave KenolKobil minority shareholders the option of selling off their shares through a mandatory general offer, last month, as it prepares for a 100 percent takeover of the company.
Puma is a subsidiary of Trafigura, the third largest petroleum trading company in the world which has interests in oil, coal and shipping among others.
Meanwhile, KenolKobil has projected a drop in the earnings for the year ending 31st December 2012, citing the volatile exchange rate, lower global oil prices and higher financing costs.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Group Chairman and Managing Director Jacob Segman said foreign exchange hedging positions taken during 2011 to cover fluctuations through forward contracts, have crystallised into Forex loses in the first half of 2012.
The troubled Eurozone, where the Company maintains certain banking relations, for trading purposes, are also negatively impacting net profit margins.
Given the projected losses, KenolKobil warned the general public to exercise caution when dealing in the shares of the Company on the bourse.
KenolKobil posted a 74 percent jump in its 2011 full-year pre-tax profit to Sh4.9 billion shillings.
The oil marketer shrugged off mounting foreign exchange losses attributing the growth to a 119 percent leap in net sales to Sh222 billion.
It paid out a total dividend of Sh1.00 per share, up from Sh0.52 in 2010.
