Uchumi of Kenya Heads for Record Low on Small Investors Exit

Uchumi Supermarkets Ltd. (UCSP), a Kenyan retailer, declined in Nairobi, headed for its lowest level on record as small investors sold their stock ahead of the Christmas holidays.

The stock dropped 3.3 percent to 7.30 shillings at 9:48 a.m. in the Kenyan capital. A close at that level would be the lowest since at least May 1997.

“It is purely retail investors building their cash positions as we head into the festive season, there is a lot of retail exits from the company,” George Bodo, an equity strategist at Nairobi-based Apex Africa Capital Ltd., said by phone today.

The shares resumed trading in May, following a five-year suspension after the company went into receivership in June 2006 with debts of 2.2 billion shillings ($24.5 million).

To contact the reporter on this story: Eric Ombok in Nairobi at eombok@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Shaji Mathew at shajimathew@bloomberg.net