Nakumatt in talks to extend loan deals

Nakumatt is in talks with banks to restructure a Sh8 billion loan including lengthening the repayment period to offer relief to the ailing retailer.

The retail chain’s management and the lenders on Tuesday met Trade Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo to brief him on the talks.

“The meeting was just to brief us about the progress. We are hoping that by next week they will have reached an agreement,” said Dr Kiptoo.

He added that the Government would not be giving the retailer any money but would continue to act as a mediator, not an active party in the talks.

The 10 banks in the list include major players Standard Chartered, Kenya Commercial Bank, Stanbic Bank, NIC bank, Barclays Bank and Diamond Trust Bank.

Others who may suffer losses if the retailer does not survive are Bank of Africa, Oriental, Habib Bank and Guaranty Trust Bank.

KCB and DTB, which host the retailer’s Nakumatt Global card, declined to comment on the talks.

Solid plan

Nakumatt also said they would not like to comment on the restructuring until a solid plan was agreed upon. It, however, admitted on social media that the redemption of shopping loyalty points had been suspended.

“The redemption is temporarily unavailable. We will inform you once it resumes,” Nakumatt said on its twitter account in response to a Mr Tsisaga Jumba.

The restructuring process came as Central Bank of Kenya Governor Patrick Njoroge fired a warning shot at banks over loans that would go into default if firms going that route, including Kenya Airways, do not pay up.

Dr Njoroge said while the regulator supported negotiations, banks would have to classify their loans accordingly and ensure the restructured shareholding is not more than a quarter of their core capital.