Nairobi, April 19 -- Listed banks accounted for nearly half of all dividends paid out by Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) firms, an analysis of data from the bourse shows.

The lenders' latest dividend per share covering the year ended December 2023 tallied to Ksh66.4 billion, a 48.9 percent share of the cumulative Ksh135.6 billion pay-outs from all counters.

The high absolute payout by the banking sector has anchored investor interests for the counter informing the notable share price gains seen this year.

As of Wednesday this week, listed banks' share prices had jumped by an average of 17.4 percent on a year-to-date basis with Equity Group soaring by 32.3 percent to trade at Ksh44.55 a piece.

Read: Kenya bank stocks to rise on divid...