This archive report was first published on 12 September 2019.
Thursday, September 12, 2019, marked a significant turning point for TransCentury, a Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed investment firm, as it posted a Sh297.6 million net profit in the half year ended June.
The positive earnings were largely boosted by a Sh1.3 billion net gain resulting from the write-off of part of the Standard Chartered Bank loans.
According to TransCentury's latest annual report, the debt restructuring saw the firm break its loss-making streak.
East African Cables, a subsidiary of TransCentury, reached an agreement with Standard Chartered Bank on December 20, 2018, to pay the lender a reduced amount of its loans as a final settlement.
TransCentury said in reference to the impact of the deal on its consolidated results, "The settlement was completed on May 20. The resulting gain on this transaction was Sh1.56 billion which will be recorded in the financial statements for the year ending December 31, 2019."
The firm also took new loans totalling Sh1.6 billion from an unidentified lender in February to settle the Standard Chartered Bank's reduced claims.
StanChart is the second major creditor to write off part of its claims on TransCentury, following a similar move in 2016 when the investment firm forced bondholders to halve their claims from Sh8 billion to Sh4 billion.
