Umeme sinks further as Airtel, Stanbic post gains

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Umeme dropped by 33.02% to close at sh71 at the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE), its lowest level on record by close of last week.

Bank of Baroda also slipped 1.98% to sh48.03, while Quality Chemical Industries edged down 0.02% to sh121.

On the upside, Airtel Uganda claimed by 7.69% to sh112. Stanbic Holdings Uganda added 1.28% to sh79 and MTN Uganda ticked up 0.13% to sh471.60 per share.

Market activity picked up during the week ending March 13, with total turnover rising to sh3.14b ($838,419) from sh2.72b ($739,300) a week earlier, according to market data from Crested Capital. Investors exchanged 34.1m shares across seven counters.

Stanbic exchanged sh1.79b ($477,282) from 22.9m shares. MTN followed with sh840.7m ($224,200) from 1.78m shares, while Bank of Baroda recorded sh413.21m ($110,195) from 8.58m shares.

Airtel posted trades worth sh45.59m ($12,159) from 423,308 shares. Umeme recorded sh26.61m ($7,096) from 293,200 shares, dfcu traded sh23.23m ($6,196) from 75,682 shares, and Quality Chemical Industries generated sh4.84m ($1,290) from 39,900 shares.

Among cross-listed counters, Centum Investments was the only decliner, slipping 1.70% to sh412.68. East African Breweries rose 2.19% to sh7,507.88, Equity Group climbed 2.76% to sh2,186.48, and Jubilee Holdings advanced 5.39% to sh11,294.40.

Kenya Airways posted the sharpest jump among the cross listings, surging 25.46% to sh161.60, while KCB Group rose 5.79% to sh2,266.12 and Nation Media Group gained 14.44% to close at sh457.57.