Centum posts 75 pct rise in H1 pre-tax profit

Centum Investment Company reported on Wednesday a 75 percent rise in pre-tax profit for the six months to Sept. 30 at 2.246 billion shillings ($22 million), citing a surge in interest income.

Centum, which invests in listed and private firms and has been expanding investments in real estate, reported a pre-tax profit of 1.285 billion shillings for the same period a year earlier.

Total income surged to 8.384 billion shillings in the first half from 1.897 billion shillings, Risper Mukoto, managing director of Centum Capital, a unit of Centum, told an investor briefing. This includes income from two subsidiaries which was not taken into account a year ago.

Interest income climbed to 1.350 billion shillings from 83 million shillings.

Centum’s flagship Two Rivers Mall in Nairobi is expected to open in March 2016, Chief Executive Officer James Mworia said.

Centum is also part of a consortium that won a contract last year to build a 1,000-MW coal-fired power plant in Kenya’s Lamu region. Mworia said the firm expected to finalise financing for the project by early 2016.