PH
Kenyan multimillionaire banker James Mwangi, the managing director and CEO of Equity Group, has seen the market value of his shareholding in the company plummet due to a persistent decrease in its share price on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.
According to data seen by NewsofAfrica, the market value of Mwangi’s Equity holding has dropped by Ksh856.3 million ($5.86 million) in the last 43 days.
Equity Group has emerged as a major power in East and Central Africa in recent years, led by its managing director and CEO, James Mwangi, who owns 3.38 percent of the company. Mwangi’s strategic vision has allowed the lender to expand its operations into a number of countries, including Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
However, Equity Group shares on the Nairobi Securities Exchange have fallen 14.92 percent since July 25, falling from Ksh44.90 ($0.307) to Ksh38.20 ($0.262) at the time of writing.
The market value of Mwangi’s stake in Equity Group has shrunk by Ksh856.32 billion ($5.86 million) over the last 43 days, falling from Ksh5.74 billion ($39.29 million) on July 25 to Ksh4.88 billion ($33.43 million) at the time of writing, owing to the group’s share price slump by double digits.
Notably, the recent drop in the group’s shares on the Nairobi Securities Exchange comes despite the conglomerate displaying exceptional financial resiliency, achieving a single-digit percent growth in earnings for the first half of 2023.
According to recently published financial results, Equity Group, led by Mwangi, reported a profit of Ksh26.33 billion ($182.8 million) in the first half of its 2023 fiscal year, a significant 7.8-percent increase over its profit of Ksh24.43 billion ($169.63 million) in the same period in 2022.
