NAIROBI, Kenya June 10-Centum Investments’ has began to bounce back with the various strategies put in place to address its profitability taking shape, CEO James Mworia has said.
In an exclusive interview with Capital business, Mworia said the firm had undergone some challenges which were a norm in every business and is now rising up to its glory.
“At Centum, we are an entity that handles different portfolios from healthcare, real estate, and financial services to fast moving consumer goods and agribusiness, and in time different assets either appreciate or depreciate in value,” said Mworia.
He noted that for instance, the recent Sidian sellout was strategic as the buyer, Access bank PLC was in better position to double the bank’s assets through scaling its return on equity.
“We also have some acquisitions that are set to formalize in the near future, which will be a major boon to our assets,” said Mworia.
Centum’s profitability dried up in 2020 as Covid-19 effects brought about uncertainties in the market with investment income drying up.
The ravages of the pandemic saw the NSE-listed firm post its first full-year loss in over 42 years of Sh1.37 billion, a drop from a Sh4.63 billion net profit posted in the preceding financial year.
The loss came on the back of its trading business, Two Rivers Development Group and investment business all posting operating losses.
In 2021, the firm started regaining its lost glory narrowing its half-year net loss by 66 percent to Sh662.1 million from a loss of Sh1.98 billion in the first of 2020.
Mworia is optimistic that its full-year results for 2021 will be an improvement from the 2020 results.
For the future, despite its uncertainties, he said Centum’s outlook is positive.
“The high and low cycles have always been a norm, therefore if you have the capital to deploy you should buy assets at the bottom of the cycle when valuations are low then sell when it’s high,” said Mworia.
Mworia further added that the current issues Kenya is facing such as global inflation, high fuel and food prices, and effects of the Russia-Ukraine war are affecting the whole world therefore when they improve, the whole world will benefit.
