Nairobi Securities Exchange — SCOM climbs to 33.5 KES after annual results, leads trading
Safaricom rose 2.5% to 33.5 KES on Thursday, June 25, 2026, with 548.4 million KES in traded value. The release of audited results for the year ended March 31, 2026 put SCOM back at the center of the market even as the NSE 25 fell 4.41%.
|5 min read
The clearest signal from trading on Thursday, June 25, 2026 came from Safaricom Plc. SCOM rose 2.5% to 33.5 KES and generated 548.4 million KES in traded value, by far the heaviest flow on the board. That move came on the same day Safaricom released its audited results for the year ended March 31, 2026, according to official Nairobi Securities Exchange announcements, and it stood out sharply against a 4.41% drop in the NSE 25 to 6101.67.
For investors checking the safaricom share price today, the key point is not just the one-day gain. It is the combination of a 3.2% rise over the last 5 sessions, relative resilience in a volatile market, and a valuation profile that remains easy to frame with a P/E of 19.3 and a dividend yield of 4.48%. In a Kenyan market dealing with rotation out of some financial names and a USD/KES rate of 129.48, up 0.80%, Safaricom is reasserting its role as the market’s anchor stock.
Key figures
- SCOM: 33.5 KES, up 2.5%
- 5-day move: 32.45 KES to 33.5 KES, a gain of 3.2%
NSE Kenya today: Safaricom rises while the index falls
Trading on June 25, 2026 painted a mixed picture for the Kenya stock market. On one side, market breadth was constructive, with 26 gainers, 21 losers, and 9 unchanged stocks out of 56 counters. On the other, the NSE 25 fell 4.41%, showing that weakness in a few heavyweight names outweighed the broader participation.
Safaricom stood out in that setting. Among the day’s gainers, SCOM added 2.5%, trailing Limuru Tea at 12.6% and Car and General at 11.9%, but outperforming East African Breweries at 3.6% and BAT Kenya at 2.1%. More importantly, in traded value Safaricom dominated the session with 548.4 million KES, versus 122.6 million KES for KCB Group and 71.3 million KES for I&M Holdings. That matters because it shows the move was backed by real money, not a thin-market price print.
The divergence between a rising Safaricom and a sharply weaker index also reflects pressure in parts of the banking space. I&M Holdings dropped 10.2% to 59.5 KES, while Co-operative Bank slipped 0.6% and Diamond Trust Bank lost 0.5%. In that context, Safaricom acted as a sectoral counterweight, which fits its status as one of the most important names on the Nairobi market and the recurring nature of its telecom and M-Pesa revenue base.
Annual results are the main catalyst behind SCOM’s move
The day’s main catalyst is clearly the release of Safaricom’s audited results for the year ended March 31, 2026, published on June 25, 2026 through the NSE. The data provided here do not include the detailed income statement lines. But the market reaction, combined with the depth of trading, suggests investors treated the release as either a rerating event or at least a reassurance event.
Why does this matter so much? Because Safaricom is not just another telecom stock on the Nairobi board. Its weight in Kenyan indices is structurally high, and its investment case rests on 3 pillars that the market reassesses every reporting season:
•resilience in the core telecom business,
•the ability of M-Pesa to support revenue and margin growth,
•and execution in Ethiopia, which remains a major regional expansion theme.
Even without the full financial breakdown in the supplied data, several market signals help explain the move. First, the stock has moved from 32.45 KES to 33.5 KES over 5 sessions, with only a brief pause at 32.7 KES before the final push higher. Second, its RSI of 76.15 places the stock in technically overbought territory. That does not mean a reversal is certain. It means the recent move has been fast and forceful. For retail investors, that distinction matters: a high RSI often reflects strong short-term demand, but it also argues for discipline when assessing entry levels.
Fundamentals and technicals: why SCOM still commands attention at 33.5 KES
At 33.5 KES, Safaricom trades on a P/E of 19.3. That is not cheap in absolute terms, but it remains defensible for a company combining telecommunications, digital payments, and regional optionality. The 4.48% dividend yield adds an income component that matters in a market where investors continue to balance growth against cash return.
Macro conditions also support interest in the name while highlighting constraints. USD/KES at 129.48, up 0.80%, points to ongoing pressure on the shilling. For Safaricom, that matters through network equipment, imported technology, and other foreign-currency-linked costs. By contrast, Brent crude at $74.88 a barrel, down 3.9% on the week despite a 1.6% daily rebound, may ease some economy-wide energy and logistics pressure. For a telecom operator, the effect is less direct than for an airline or manufacturer, but it still feeds into the broader cost environment.
From a technical standpoint, the 3.2% gain over 5 days and the 2.5% rise on the day show clear outperformance against a market where the benchmark index fell 4.41%. That kind of relative strength often signals that flows are seeking quality and liquidity. Across NSE share prices, few counters offer both the same market depth and the same clarity of business model.
Supporting stories: market structure changes and sector rotation
The session was not only about Safaricom. The NSE also announced on June 25, 2026 a series of initiatives to widen retail access, including a push to expand investment access for individual investors and the listing of the Satrix MSCI World Feeder ETF. According to the exchange, broader product access could gradually reshape allocation habits. In the near term, however, it also reinforces the role of liquid domestic blue chips like Safaricom, which remain the natural entry point for many local investors.
