Nairobi Securities Exchange — Safaricom Posts 2026 Earnings, Stock Slips 0.5% on KES 567m Turnover
Safaricom released its audited FY2026 results in a session dominated by KES 567.3 million in turnover on the stock, while the NSE 25 fell 20.29%. Revenue growth supported the story, but margin pressure and a weaker shilling capped market enthusiasm.
|6 min read
Safaricom’s audited results for the year ended 31 March 2026 gave the Kenyan market its clearest focal point on Monday, 3 August 2026. The stock slipped just 0.5%, yet it dominated trading with KES 567.3 million in turnover, easily the busiest counter of the day, while the NSE 25 showed a sharp 20.29% decline. That contrast matters: Safaricom still anchors the Nairobi market’s earnings narrative, but revenue growth on its own was not enough to offset concerns about margin pressure and a weaker shilling at KES 129.35 per dollar, up 0.76% on the day.
Key figures
- NSE 25: 3,030.0 points, day move of -20.29%
- Safaricom: -0.5% with KES 567.3 million in turnover
- USD/KES: 129.35, up 0.76%
- EABL: +3.6% at KES 290.0
- Co-operative Bank: -1.4% at KES 34.5
Market context: index weakness masked a more balanced session
The headline move in NSE Kenya today looked brutal, but the broader tape was more mixed than the index suggested. Market breadth came in at 25 gainers, and out of listed counters tracked in the session. That is not the profile of a market in uniform retreat. Instead, it points to a day when weakness in a handful of heavyweight names had an outsized effect on the benchmark.
By turnover, Safaricom Plc led with KES 567.3 million, followed by Equity Group Holdings at KES 340.5 million, flat on the day, and Co-operative Bank of Kenya at KES 152.2 million, down 1.4%. KCB Group added 0.3% on KES 41.6 million, while East African Breweries rose 3.6% on KES 43.1 million. In other words, liquidity remained concentrated in the same large-cap names that shape the Nairobi stock exchange today, even as price action diverged sharply across sectors.
That divergence is structural. Safaricom has often accounted for more than 40% of key Kenyan equity index weightings, depending on methodology and period, so a muted or negative reaction in the telecom giant can outweigh gains in several mid-cap stocks. That is exactly what happened on 3 August. Centum climbed 8.3%, Britam gained 6.3%, KenGen rose 5.6%, Kenya Power advanced 3.8%, and EABL added 3.6%, yet those moves could not fully counter the drag from heavyweight financials and the cautious post-results read-through on Safaricom.
Global macro added another layer. Brent crude fell to $83.59 a barrel, down 7.2% on the day and 7.9% on the week, according to the commodity data in the prompt. For Kenya, a net oil importer, that should be supportive over time because lower fuel costs can ease transport, power and imported inflation pressures. But the immediate offset came from foreign exchange: the dollar strengthened to KES 129.35, making imported equipment, technology contracts and other hard-currency costs more expensive. For a telecom operator with ongoing network investment and regional expansion, lower oil is helpful, but a weaker shilling can still squeeze profitability.
Safaricom earnings 2026: growth story intact, margin debate unresolved
The core story of the session was the release of Safaricom earnings 2026, covering the financial year ended 31 March 2026. The market did not punish the stock heavily, with the share price down only 0.5%, but it also did not reward the results with a clear rally despite the exceptional KES 567.3 million traded. That kind of reaction usually signals that investors saw enough top-line resilience to avoid panic, but not enough margin comfort to justify aggressive buying.
According to the official announcement dated 3 August 2026, the audited results showed revenue growth, supported by the group’s core telecom franchise and, crucially, by M-Pesa, which remains Safaricom’s defining earnings engine in Kenya. For retail investors following the Kenya stock market, that is the first layer of the story. The second layer is more demanding: how much of that revenue growth is translating into profit after accounting for network spending, Ethiopia expansion costs, competitive pressure in data, and currency-linked expenses.
That is where the market’s caution makes sense. Safaricom is no longer judged simply on whether revenue rises. It is judged on the quality of that growth. M-Pesa can support margins because mobile money is typically more profitable than basic connectivity, but expansion into Ethiopia and continued infrastructure investment can dilute group profitability in the near term. A weaker shilling compounds the issue because telecom equipment, software, vendor contracts and some financing lines are often linked to foreign currency. With USD/KES at 129.35, up 0.76% on the day, the foreign-exchange headwind was impossible to ignore.
The oil move matters here too. Brent at $83.59, after a 7.2% daily drop, should eventually help the Kenyan economy by lowering fuel import costs and easing pressure on transport-heavy sectors. It may also support household disposable income if lower energy costs feed through. But for Safaricom’s FY2026 results, that benefit is more of a forward macro cushion than an immediate earnings driver. Currency pressure tends to hit imported cost lines faster than lower oil prices improve broad operating conditions. That helps explain why the safaricom share price today was soft even though the company remains the market’s dominant liquidity magnet.
There is also an index effect. When Safaricom reports, the event is bigger than one stock. It becomes a read-through for the whole exchange because institutional investors often rebalance around the name. With KES 567.3 million traded in Safaricom alone, compared with KES 340.5 million in Equity and KES 152.2 million in Co-op Bank, the stock absorbed a substantial share of the day’s liquidity. The limited decline suggests no fundamental break in the investment case, but it also shows that the market wants more clarity on margin trajectory, M-Pesa monetisation and the pace at which Ethiopia can move from investment story to earnings contributor.
Other earnings and sector moves reinforced the results-driven tone
The Nairobi stock exchange today was not only about Safaricom. Official announcements also included results from Home Afrika, Car & General Kenya, Limuru Tea, Shri Krishana Overseas, Express Kenya, Nation Media Group and TotalEnergies Marketing Kenya. That heavy earnings calendar helps explain the wide spread in individual share moves.
Among gainers, Home Afrika rose 6.8% to KES 1.1, Shri Krishana Overseas added 7.7% to KES 11.85, and Centum climbed 8.3% to KES 17.65. On the losing side, Express Kenya fell 1.6% to KES 7.24, Nation Media Group dropped 4.5% to KES 12.65, and Uchumi slid 11.8% to KES 1.49. Those moves show that investors were actively repricing company-specific earnings and balance-sheet stories rather than trading the market as a single macro block.
Sector action also reflected the global backdrop. EABL’s 3.6% rise to KES 290.0 can be read partly through the lens of lower oil, which may ease distribution costs for consumer names over time. By contrast, agricultural counters were weaker: Sasini Tea and Coffee lost 3.4% to KES 24.1, while Kapchorua Tea dropped 6.2% to KES 345.0. That came as coffee prices fell 8.6% to 303.65, while cocoa jumped 8.0% to 5,828.0, underlining that commodity-linked African equities are not moving on one common cycle.
