*Today’s News Highlights* ▪ *Kenya Power set to pay first interim dividend in 9 years* Kenya Power has declared the first interim dividend in nine years, a further boost to shareholders after the firm’s half-year profit jumped 31 times to KES 9.97 Bn. The electricity distributor yesterday declared a dividend of KES 0.20 per share as net profits for the six months to December rose from KES 319 Mn posted in a similar period a year earlier. ▪ *Foreigners seen keeping off NSE on strong US stock market* Foreign investors are expected to largely stay off emerging and frontier equities market this year, extending exits from the Nairobi bourse on attractive major markets led by US stocks. Analysts expect foreign capital to remain tied to developed markets on the strength of returns on offer. “In general, we expect continued outflows due to relatively more attractive returns offered in developed markets,” noted analysts at Sterling Capital. Foreign investors remained net sellers at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) for a fourth straight year in 2024 as they fled emerging and frontier markets to advanced economies on the prospects of comparatively better returns. ▪ *CBK seen making steeper rate cuts to unlock credit* Analysts expect the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) to slash base interest rates by as much as three percentage points by end of the year to reboot the softening economy on the back of relatively stable inflation and foreign exchange market. The CBK’s top-decision making organ, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), will hold the first meeting of this year following a bigger-than-expected 75 basis-point cut in benchmark lending rate to 11.25 percent during the last meeting early last December. ▪ *Tycoon Munga fails to block auction of his Britam shares* Billionaire businessman Peter Munga has failed to block the auction of his 75 million shares in insurer Britam over Sh433.76 million defaulted bank loan that he had guaranteed one of his companies. High Court Judge Alfred Mabeya said that the businessman had no reason to block ABC Bank from attaching his shares valued at Sh604 million as a guarantor because the loan advanced to Equatorial Nut Processors remains unsettled. ▪ *Sasini blames China buyers for disrupting macadamia supplies* Agriculture firm Sasini has accused Chinese macadamia importers of buying immature nuts from farmers after the government lifted restrictions on raw nut exports last year, starving local processors of quality supplies. The claims by Sasini highlight the differing opinions between macadamia processors and farmers, over the export moratorium, which was in place for 12 months from November 3, 2023, and which was extended by a month upon expiry. _Courtesy: Business Daily_ https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaBcBIRAzNbtD1l1eA1k