Nairobi, March 14 -- Tier-one bank stocks have added Sh12.1 billion in market value at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) over the past one week on rising demand as investors jostle for the higher dividends the lenders are announcing for the year ended December 2023.

Seven out of the nine lenders have made price gains since March 5, when Stanbic Holdings announced a 21.8 percent increase in its dividend for 2023 to Sh6.07 billion or Sh15.35 per share, which is the highest it has ever distributed.

Standard Chartered Bank Kenya also announced an increase of 32 percent in its annual payout to Sh29 per share - also a record high for the bank- when it released its financial results on Tuesday, setting off a price rally on its stock.

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