This archive report was first published on 10 October 2019.
On October 10, 2019, KCB Group closed trading with a market value of Sh133.6 billion, trailing Equity Group's Sh135.4 billion by just Sh1.8 billion.
This convergence in their paper value intensified, with KCB's market capitalization having nearly eliminated the gap between it and Equity.
The gap had been as high as Sh40 billion in April 2018, when Equity's market capitalization stood at Sh205.6 billion compared to KCB's Sh165.5 billion.
KCB's gain has been linked to the bank's enhanced dividend payout and an increase in its issued shares by 142.9 million units.
The additional shares, allotted to previous owners of National Bank of Kenya (NBK) who were bought out in a share swap deal, have bumped up the lender's market value by nearly Sh6 billion.
While Equity has maintained its dividend per share payout at Sh2, KCB raised its payout from Sh2 to Sh3.5, resulting in a total dividend of Sh10.7 billion for the year ended December 2018, representing a payout of 44.7 percent of the Sh23.9 billion net profit.
Analysts also suggest that Equity's recent share price slide may be due to investors reacting to its significant spending on a rebranding exercise.
