Focus shifts to value of Centum assets as firm books 67 percent profit drop
Whether the sale of GenAfrica by Investment firm Centum would have saved the company from the 67 percent drop in profit will be left to be seen over the next couple of months.
Centum owns 73 percent of the fund manager which was returning an average profit of Sh141 million over the past two years with Sh1.4 billion assets under its management.
The valuation of this sale may not have been able to plug the Sh5.4 plunge in after-tax profits but may book Centum with an earnings boom next year.
Centum Investment which is majorly owned by businessman Chris Kirubi, blamed the drop in net profits to Sh2.7 billion in 2018 down from a towering Sh8.1 billion last year over on late closing of the sale of GenAfrica.
While the relevant transaction agreements had been signed by the year-end, the group did not record the realized gains arising from the disposals fulfillment of some conditions was ongoing at the cut-off date.
The firm blamed the combined effect of the lower property valuation gains and deferral of recognition of realized gains on the disposal of GenAfrica asset managers for the 67 percent decline in the group’s consolidated net profit.
A 35 percent decrease in the value of their property which lost Sh2.3 billion worth in share value.
But it is the company’s own business that suffered a Sh2.6 billion depression from investments and other incomes as well as fall in money from financial services which booked Sh3.6 billion to Sh2.8 billion last year.
