may I add Total to that list...?

Beware when buying stocks in companies controlled and managed by a European shareholder. For they always find clever ways of repatriating profits first to the european shareholder before considering you. This is normally done through; price transfers,non-competetive fees for technical support,consultancy fees,charges for licences,single sourced loans (from europen shareholder) paid in hard currencies,expensive training etc.

Eg,M-Pesa. Safcom does not make a cent from it; Vodafone does. They found a clever way of leasing it from Vodafone. If u ask me,I wud tell u that u can easily develop a money-tranfer prooduct without buying a licence,others have - this is an old repatriation trick.

Although they will be making lots of money,they must honour those commitments first b4 paying any dividends - EABL will get there soon too,if diageo starts sneaking in euro-managers.



When buying shares,ask yourself,would you buy the whole company?

@triple x

Not all foreign companies engage in those tricks but British,French and German controlled and managed companies are notorious,still not all. I once worked for a German company in Kenya and there was so much price transfer going on to avoid tax,the Kenyan branch rarely made profits on paper. Thats when I realized owning shares in such ltd can be a rip-off.

When buying shares,ask yourself,would you buy the whole company?

@slykat; that doesn't leave us with very much choice,does it?

Behind the gardens...Behind the wall...Under the tree (Including: Red...Dark Blue...Yellow)

The 'foreign' firms have given minority shareholders the BEST returns over the past 10 years vs 'local' firms.

Bamburi,EABL,BBK (I wish someone would post bonus+split adjusted prices here).

Even KQ (with the recent price drop) became profitable AFTER KLM was given managerial control.

Total has for years been a consistent dividend payer. And Kenol is owned by biwott lakini run by Israelis. The CEO (among many senior managers) is Israeli. The CFO for the past 7 years has always been a 'foreigner'.

Some local firms have done well (my hats off to them) but these are recent entrants including Access & ScanGroup. Others have had roller-coasters including ARM.

Greedy when others are fearful,Very fearful when others are greedy - to paraphrase WB

Would you say these are local or foreign?

If foreign,then I trust them far more than many local firms like olympia

Greedy when others are fearful,Very fearful when others are greedy - to paraphrase WB