Cement firm races ahead of market, gains more than 25 pc in November

Owners of ARM Cement (formerly Athi River Mining Ltd) have grown their wealth by Sh5 billion in November alone, following a restructuring of its debt by retiring expensive loans. Despite announcing an operating loss of Sh645 million for the nine months to September, the value of the cement manufacturer has appreciated by 29 per cent to stay ahead of the market that is at the lowest level since August 2012.

A relentless bear run has seen remarked selling this year, depressing the cumulative value of the blue chip firms as tracked by the NSE20-share index. The firm hopes to borrow about Sh10 billion in an ongoing privately-issued five-year bond that closes end of next week, whose proceeds would settle other shorter-term debts that are costlier.