(NAIROBI, KENYA) – Equity Group CEO James Mwangi’s stake in the lender climbed to a record KES13.42 billion ($104 million / £81.9 million) on Thursday as the bank’s share price extended a six session gaining streak on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE).
Mwangi, who owns 127,809,180 Equity shares, has seen the value of his investment rise by KES1.5 billion ($11.6 million / £9.2 million) since the start of the week. His total gain now stands at about KES4.89 billion ($37.9 million / £29.8 million) since the beginning of the year when the stock was trading at KES66.75 ($0.52 / £0.41).
His paper gain of nearly KES5 billion ($38.8 million / £30.5 million) in under nine months points to the scale of wealth creation for major shareholders on the back of the strong run of NSE stocks this year. Every KES1 increase in Equity’s share price adds about KES127.8 million ($991,000 / £780,000) to the paper value of Mwangi’s stake.
Equity’s latest gains have come at an accelerated pace, with the share price rising 12.6% over six consecutive trading sessions to set a new record of KES105 ($0.81 / £0.64) on Thursday. The stock opened Monday at KES93.25 ($0.72 / £0.57), meaning investors have cumulatively gained KES46.23 billion ($358 million / £282 million) in four days.
“There’s a lot of optimism about Equity’s strategy from a fundamental perspective. Coupled with demand and supply dynamics, this is leading to the price discovery,” said Wesley Manambo, a senior research associate at Standard Investment Bank.
He added: “Investors are excited about Equity’s strategy around the planned geographical diversification towards the South African markets. Its strong balance sheet and the sustained good performance are adding to the attraction.”
The regional lender recently announced a profit after tax of KES43.7 billion ($339 million / £267 million) in the six months to June, up 31.5% from KES33.3 billion ($258 million / £203 million) made in a similar period last year. The bank continued its tradition of not declaring interim dividends.
Equity’s share price rally built on the milestone of KES100 ($0.78 / £0.61) reached on Wednesday, gaining 5% in Thursday’s session. At the current price, Mwangi’s stake is worth KES13.42 billion ($104 million / £81.9 million), compared with about KES8.53 billion ($66.1 million / £52 million) at the start of the year.
Equity is among the most traded stocks on the NSE, having seen volumes of 5.24 million shares on Thursday and 11.13 million shares the previous day.
A senior stockbroker who spoke on condition of anonymity told Business Daily that a KES600 million ($4.65 million / £3.66 million) block trade involving six million shares was executed on Wednesday at KES100 ($0.78 / £0.61) per share, triggering the gain from Tuesday’s KES96.25 ($0.75 / £0.59).
“The KES600 million transaction was a foreign block trade and that helped take the share to the KES100 milestone,” said the broker.
The rally has lifted the market value of the bank by KES144.34 billion ($1.12 billion / £880 million) to a record KES396.23 billion ($3.07 billion / £2.42 billion), a 57.3% increase since the start of the year.
Equity is among the banking stocks that have delivered some of the strongest gains on the NSE this year as investors react to higher earnings and dividends by listed blue chip firms. I&M Group has been among the leading banking stocks this year with gains of 90.8%, followed by Diamond Trust Bank and Co-operative Bank of Kenya with gains of 69.8% and 59.9% respectively since January.
The rally in banking stocks is part of the bull run at the Nairobi bourse, which has seen renewed investor interest in stocks across sectors including telecommunications, insurance, manufacturing and agriculture.
The NSE has this year gained 45.53% or KES1.34 trillion ($10.4 billion / £8.17 billion), taking the market capitalisation to KES4.285 trillion ($33.2 billion / £26.1 billion). On 3rd August this year, the combined investor wealth at the NSE crossed KES4 trillion ($31 billion / £24.4 billion) for the first time following a sustained rally in blue chip share prices and the entry of Kenya Pipeline Company and Family Bank.
The bourse hit the new valuation milestone just nine months after it crossed the KES3 trillion ($23.3 billion / £18.3 billion) mark for the first time on 6th November last year, making NSE returns the highest for investors this year.
The NSE has been on a bullish run since 2024 after ending a prolonged bear run that had drained investor confidence. In the period, it has outperformed other investment assets including government securities, property, cash deposits and unit trusts, leading to higher demand for shares from investors seeking to maximise returns on capital.
Higher dividends have also prompted demand in the stock market, particularly from local institutional investors, helping it shrug off foreign investor sales caused by global jitters that followed the Iran war.
Safaricom, the largest listed firm at the NSE, has added KES384.6 billion ($2.98 billion / £2.35 billion) in market capitalisation since the start of the year, giving the company a valuation of KES1.52 trillion ($11.8 billion / £9.27 billion). The telco’s share price has gained 33.8% to KES37.95 ($0.29 / £0.23) since 31st December 2025 when it closed at KES28.35 ($0.22 / £0.17). The firm accounts for about 28.7% of the NSE’s KES1.34 trillion gain in market capitalisation since the start of 2026.