Sub-Sahara Africa Equities: Afromedia, BAT Kenya, Costain

By Vincent Nwanma and Eric Ombok

(Bloomberg) — The Ghana Stock Exchange All-Share Index rose for a third day, increasing 0.5 percent to close at 5,714.03, its highest in more than four months.

Kenya’s All-Share Index advanced for a fourth day, climbing 0.7 percent to close at 64.58, a more than three-month high.

Mauritius’s SEMDEX Index declined for an eighth day, retreating 0.6 percent to 1,614 at the close in the capital, Port Louis.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange All-Share Index dropped for the first time in three days, falling 0.7 percent to close at 23,001.05 in the commercial capital, Lagos.

Namibia’s FTSE/Namibia Overall Index rallied for a fourth day, closing 0.2 percent higher in the capital, Windhoek, at 768.74.

The following shares rose or fell in sub-Saharan Africa, excluding South Africa. Stock symbols are in parentheses.

Afromedia Plc (AFROMEDI NL), a Nigerian advertising billboard maker, closed 2 kobo, or 3.8 percent lower, at 51 kobo in Lagos. First-quarter profit dropped 32 percent to 161.1 million naira, the company said in a statement on the Nigerian Stock Exchange’s Web site yesterday.

British American Tobacco Kenya Ltd. (BATK KN), East Africa’s biggest cigarette maker, fell 2 shillings, or 1 percent, to 194 shillings, the largest drop in a week. Full-year profit fell 13 percent to 1.48 billion shillings ($19.27 million) because of costs in restructuring the business, the Nairobi-based company said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.

Costain West Africa Plc (COSTAIN NL), a Nigerian building and civil-engineering contractor, dropped the most in a week, retreating 5 kobo, or 2 percent, to 24 naira after reporting a 45 percent decline in first-half profit yesterday.

George Williamson Kenya Ltd. (GWKL KN), a tea grower, rallied to a two-and-a-half-month high, gaining 5 shillings, or 3.4 percent, to close at 152 shillings after the industry regulator today said production of the crop jumped 27 percent in January from a year earlier. Kenya is the world’s biggest grower and exporter of black tea.

–Editors: Athol Bolleurs, Vernon Wessels.