The Nairobi Business Ventures (NBV) share is the biggest gainer this year at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, boosted by a big rally earlier this month following the Sh83 million takeover of the firm by Dubai-based Delta International FZE.

Media, manufacturing and banking stocks, on the other hand, have been the worst hit by the bear run that hit the market this year—exacerbated by the Covid pandemic—which has seen the NSE All share Index shed 10 per cent and investor wealth fall by Sh238.5 billion.

NBV opened the year with a share price of Sh0.70, and barely traded before it was suspended in mid-October after the announcement of the Delta takeover.

Following the lifting of the suspension on completion of the deal last month, the price has now shot up six fold (537 per cent) to Sh4.44 a share. This means that anyone who bought Sh1 million worth of NBV shares at the beginning of the year would now be worth Sh6.34 million.

This analysis is based on investors who buy shares at the start of the year and measure their returns at the end of the trading season—in a review that does not capture speculators who enter and exit stocks in short periods.

The other top gainers in the market this year are Kenya Airways and Carbacid, with gains of 86.8 per cent and 50.6 per cent respectively to Sh3.83 and Sh12.05.

Mr Gerald Muriuki, an analyst at city based investment bank Genghis Capital, said the fact that that the three top gainers have been subject to significant corporate actions this year has attracted speculators to their stocks, driving up prices.

“It is mostly due to corporate actions, where in the case of NBV it’s the takeover by the Dubai firm, Carbacid making a bid to acquire fellow gas producer BOC Kenya and for Kenya Airways, the proposed nationalisation by the government,” said Mr Muriuki.