Smoking out profits from BAT shares

Critics also say that by their sheer number, the Safaricom shares contributed greatly in instigating the one-year bear run which in February saw the NSE 20-share index reach the lowest levels in six years.

On its part, BAT-Kenya’s bullish trends are all the more remarkable given the fact that in July 2008, Kenya’s Tobacco Control Act came into effect, introducing a raft of regulations and guidelines which tobacco companies said would affect their business negatively.

Among these provisions was a ban on smoking in all public places, including restaurants, workplaces, court and public buildings, factories, cinema halls, theatres, video houses, disco halls, hospitals and other health institutions.