Olympia Capital Holdings share price tripled at the close of trading yesterday on the day the investment firm reported a further profit drop and purchase of a 9.7 percent stake by Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro.
The stock closed at Sh21.55 at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) having opened trading at Sh7.22, reflecting a 198.4 percent surge in a day.
Analysts linked the surge to increased demand, with the counter witnessing its busiest day ever.
It traded 205,563 units in a day, a record high for counter whose busiest month was August when 258,821 shares changed hands.
Mr Nyoro acquired a 9.76 percent stake in Olympia Capital Holding as he eyes an additional stake to turn the Nairobi bourse-listed firm into an investment vehicle that will buy stakes across sectors.
The lawmaker wants to increase his holding to 25 percent, a threshold that will allow him to declare intentions to take over the firm, which was initially majority-owned by the family of former Mathira MP Matu Wamae.
Before the start of trading, Olympia Capital reported a net profit of Sh17.3 million for the six months ended August, reflecting a 18.1 percent drop.
“This is a bit of an outlier driven by the entry of the strategic investor and we expect the hype to continue supported by news of the investor’s intention to grow his stake but not supported by fundamentals,” said Shadrack Manyinsa, senior research analyst at Pergamon Investment Bank.
“Over time this hype will fade and we expect the market to correct itself,” he added.
The rally in share price means Mr Nyoro’s stake of 3,982,253 shares, held through his company Limpopo Capital Limited, was valued at Sh85.8 million at close of day, having opened trading worth Sh28.7 million.
The lawmaker will need to amass shares equivalent to a quarter of the firm and possibly push for its buyout to easily implement the shift in its core business model.
Mr Nyoro reckons he will sell the 9.76 percent stake for a profit if the bid to raise his stake and get control of the firm fails.
Olympia Capital’s profit dropped to Sh10.45 million last year from Sh17.6 million, reflecting a fall of 40.9 percent. The company has not paid dividends in the past five years.
In the six months to August it reported a profit drop, which was attributable to faster growth in costs compared to revenues.
The firm reported a 4.5 percent growth in revenues to Sh278.7 million while its sales rose 18.3 percent to Sh100.6 million.
Olympia Capital, formerly Dunlop Kenya, is a holding company for six firms operating in Kenya, Botswana and South Africa.
The group’s subsidiaries manufacture and sell products used in the construction industry, cleaning chemicals, water pumps and fire prevention equipment. It also has interests in real estate.
“I started buying OCH [Olympia Capital Holdings] in 2025. I thought I’d get enough supply to at least 25 percent, but liquidity of the share is low. What I need to do with it can only happen when we have a higher shareholding. If it’s difficult, then we’ll exit,” said Mr Nyoro, in response to Business Daily queries regarding the investment.
“The plan is to transform the company into some kind of Berkshire Hathaway — an investment company.”
Berkshire Hathaway is a US multinational conglomerate holding company that owns a diverse collection of businesses outright and holds major minority stakes in publicly traded stocks. The US firm is majority-owned by tycoon Warren Buffett.
Olympia Capital owns glue producer Dunlex Adhesives and has a 46 percent shareholding in rubber company Avon, which also has real estate holdings.
In Botswana, the company is involved in construction through production of tiles, real estate holdings and manufacturing of cleaning chemicals, while in South Africa it is in the logistics business.
“I visited their factory in Gaborone, Botswana and thought it was scalable, especially via the South Africa market,” disclosed Mr Nyoro.
“Though the company hasn’t paid dividends for a long time, its assets per share are not bad.”
UK-based Dunlop Properties Limited is the largest shareholder of Olympia Capital with a 6.2 percent shareholding.
Top shareholders include Paul Wanderi Ndung’u, renowned for his investment in SportPesa and the telecoms industry, who has a 12 percent stake in the investment company.
A company associated with Mr Ndung’u, Mobicom Kenya Limited, is also among the top owners at Olympia with a 1.12 percent stake.
Billionaire businessman Joel Kibe, prominent for his investment in CMC, has a two percent stake in the company.
Regulatory filings show Asteria Company, which had a three percent stake, is the only large shareholder to have exited the list of top owners in the past 12 months, indicating Mr Nyoro accumulated his stake through purchases in the open market.
Analysts reckon Mr Nyoro’s investment is speculative given the positive outlook of the company, with its investment in strategic sectors such as real estate, hospitality and logistics.
“This is a speculative buy. On the asset side, it is discounted, but the earnings are not so good,” said Mr Manyinsa.
“Their profits are coming down, but if they had a strategic investment to grow their capability to mint their assets, then their performance would improve.”
Mr Nyoro, formerly a stockbroker before going into politics, has been an active trader on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) with a preference for picking small-cap counters and betting on an upswing.
At Kenya Power, the MP invested an estimated Sh56 million in 2023 to buy 32.5 million shares at an average of Sh1.58 per share, becoming the utility firm’s largest individual shareholder.
His stake in the power firm is currently valued at Sh468.7 million, with the counter trading at Sh21.8 per share despite the MP having sold a portion of his shares, which booked him huge capital gains.
Earlier this year, Mr Nyoro bought into Kenya Airways with a Sh49.2 million investment, which made him the second largest individual shareholder in the listed airline.
