Kenya's Centum eyes bond for Q1, examines options

By Helen Nyambura-Mwaura

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan Centum Investments still plans to issue a 2 billion shilling bond but is also looking at other ways of raising cash, an official at the private equity firm said on Wednesday.

When it announced a halving of full-year pretax profit in May, Centum said it wanted to issue the five-year bond in the third quarter. But a senior company official said this had been moved to the first quarter of 2010.

"We are evaluating all the options we have," the official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. "The bond is our preference but that is not the only route."

Centum is also looking at the possibility of a syndicated loan, raising money from financial institutions willing to lend at a lower rate, or separate financing options for different projects.

"We are not saying we have cut off the plans," he said. "We are weighing all the options vis-a-vis the bond. We are trying to be innovative in it rather than going the traditional way."

Centum has stakes in Safaricom, British American Tobacco, Kenya Airways, Barclays Bank, East African Breweries, CMC Motors and Carbacid.

It also has interests in Rift Valley Bottlers, a Coca Cola franchise, Kenya Wine Agencies, UAP Insurance, General Motors East Africa, Longhorn Publishers and catering firm NAS.

Kenyan firms are turning to bonds to raise money, which has affected share prices.

The country's largest electricity generator, KenGen, has just closed an issue for 15 billion shillings, which roped in over 25 billion shillings. It has the regulator's go-ahead to keep an extra 10 billion shillings.

Other companies planning new bond issues are East African Portland Cement and Crown Berger.