This was revealed by the firm’s chief investor relations officer Les Baillie in Nairobi at a press briefing.
Raising his concerns regarding this trend, Baillie said foreign firms have increased their stake by 63.34 per cent while the stake held by Kenyans has been on the decline.
He disclosed that as at May this year, foreign investors held 2.15 billion shares, up from 1.32 billion held at the same period last year.
“Over the same period, local investors reduced their stake from 4.09 billion to 3.3 billion, while local institutional investors cut theirs from 4.47 billion to 4.37 billion,” he said.
Adding that foreign individuals (not firms) have 91.9 million shares which is a reduction from 112.9 million as at May last year.
The number of shareholders has also gradually gone down since last year by 5.92 per cent to 775,147 shareholders in May 2010.
“While foreign shareholding increased by 15.31 per cent, all the other classes of shareholders recorded a decline with local firms having the largest drop of 11.17 per cent,” reads in part a document prepared by Safaricom’s investor relations department.
“The company’s management reinforced its strategy to promote investment prospects in Safaricom by undertaking an investor roadshow in May-June that targeted 60 companies,” said Baillie.
BRIAN ADERO in Nairobi, Kenya
