Two Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed tea companies, Williamson Tea Kenya and Kapchorua Tea Kenya, are set to reward shareholders with significantly fatter dividends for the year ended March 2026 — going as far as drawing on accumulated retained earnings to do so, since both firms’ declared payouts considerably exceed what they earned in net profit during the period.
Williamson Tea Kenya tripled its total dividend disbursement to Sh525.3 million, a dramatic leap from the Sh175.1 million paid out the year before. The board declared a first and final dividend of Sh15 per share, up from Sh10 per share, spread across a larger pool of 35.02 million shares. That expanded share count came about after the company approved a bonus issue in October last year, issuing one new share for every share held and thereby doubling its capital from 17.5 million units. Shareholders on the register as of July 31 stand to benefit, with the company drawing on part of its Sh4.4 billion in retained earnings to complete the distribution.
The generous payout accompanies a turnaround in Williamson Tea’s fortunes. The firm swung to a net profit of Sh120.7 million in the review period, compared with a net loss of Sh166.4 million in the prior year. Stringent cost reduction was the main driver, cutting the company’s operating loss from Sh392.2 million down to Sh41.5 million. Higher valuations on plantation assets and increased income from financial investments also contributed to the recovery. Sales, however, retreated by Sh708 million to Sh3.4 billion, with the company attributing sluggish crop output to a dry spell earlier in the year alongside strict quality controls on bought leaf. The market welcomed the results, pushing Williamson Tea’s share price up 13.1 percent to close at Sh150.25 on Friday.
Kapchorua Tea Kenya, a sister company to Williamson Tea, mirrored the trend with an equally striking dividend increase — its total payout surging 140 percent to Sh469.4 million from Sh195.6 million the previous year. The per-share dividend rose to Sh30 from Sh25, distributed across 15.6 million shares after Kapchorua similarly doubled its share capital through a one-for-one bonus issue from the previous 7.8 million units. Since the payout exceeds its earned profit, Kapchorua will dip into its Sh1.6 billion retained earnings to make up the difference.
Kapchorua’s underlying business held relatively steady, with net profit edging up to Sh196.9 million from Sh181.1 million, even as revenue slipped to Sh1.6 billion from Sh2.2 billion. Cost containment helped cushion the revenue decline and kept margins intact. Investors reacted warmly, driving Kapchorua’s share price 7.5 percent higher to Sh321.25 on Friday.
On the wider industry outlook, Williamson Tea sounded a note of caution, pointing to growing regulatory burdens weighing on the sector, while expressing measured hope that shifts in the global geopolitical environment could bring some relief to Kenya’s tea trade in the months ahead.
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