Centum Investment Company


Centum Investment Company Plc, commonly known as Centum is a public East African investment company. It operates as an affiliate of the Kenyan government-owned Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation.

Overview

Centum is a publicly owned investment company with headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. Its shares are listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, where they trade under the symbol: ICDC. The company shares are also cross-listed on the Uganda Securities Exchange, where they trade under the symbol: CENT. Centum is an investment channel providing investors access to a portfolio of inaccessible, quality, diversified investments.
Centum's mission is to create real, tangible wealth by providing the channel through which investors access and build extraordinary enterprises in Africa. As of March 2019 Centum's total assets were KSh 101,764,000,000 with shareholder's equity of KSh51,576,000,000.

History

ICDC was founded in 1954 as a government parastatal, whose primary objective was to provide a vehicle for Kenyans to invest in the economy of newly independent Kenya by investing in Kenyan companies. In 1967, ICDC formed the subsidiary ICDC Investment Company Limited, whose shares were listed on the NSE.
In 1998, with the Government of Kenya having sold some of its majority shareholding, ICDC Investment Company adopted a new management structure, handing over day-to-day management to an independent professional managerial team, supervised by an independent board of directors elected by the shareholders.
In 2008, the shareholders changed the name of the company to Centum Investment Company Limited. The shares of Centum Investment Company Limited have been publicly traded on the NSE since 1967 and on the USE since 10 February 2011. Over time, Centum's strategy has evolved in line with the company's growth with Centum currently in its 2014 - 2019 strategic period dubbed "Centum 3.0". Under Centum 3.0, the company maintains focus through 4 distinct business lines namely Real Estate, Private Equity, Development and Marketable Securities.

Investment Overview

Centum's investments are organised into four key verticals:

Real Estate">Real estate">Real Estate Portfolio

This division is involved in real estate development in Kenya and Uganda, with an eye to expanding into other countries in the African Great Lakes region. These include:
This division acquires equity positions in either publicly or non-publicly-traded companies, mainly in the African Great Lakes region, but increasingly in other parts of the continent as well. Investments under this segment include the beverage, publishing, financial services and utilities businesses. Per its March 2018 annual report, these included:

Financial Services">Financial services">Financial Services

The Marketable Securities Portfolio comprises investments in securities and fixed income instruments managed by . The portfolio is broadly diversified across various stock exchanges in Africa and primarily invests in large and mid-capitalization equities while maintaining sizeable allocations to fixed income and cash. This segment represents 8.2% of Centum's portfolio value.

Development Portfolio

This represents investments, outside from real estate, that are still under development. the development portfolio consists of;
As of 31 March 2018, the company stock was owned by corporate entities and individuals. The ten largest shareholders are listed in the table below:
RankName of OwnerPercentage Ownership
1Christopher John Kirubi
28.94
2Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation
22.97
3International House Limited
1.57
4CFC Stanbic Nominees Limited A/C NR1031144
1.43
5Standard Chartered Kenya Nominees NON-RED A/C 9827
1.43
6Standard Chartered Kenya Nominees Limited A/C KE002367
1.29
7Stanbic Nominees Ltd A/C NR 1031141
1.18
8John Kibunga Kimani
0.94
9Uganda Securities Exchange
0.89
10James Mwirigi Mworia
0.85
11Others
38.51
Total
100.00