BOC Kenya Plc an industrial gas supplier listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, said on Thursday its profit after tax fell 40% in the six months to June 30, even as it raised its interim dividend by 60%.

Profit after tax came in at 100.4 million shillings ($777,000), down from 166.7 million shillings a year earlier, the company said in a statement filed with the bourse. Revenue dropped 17% to 600 million shillings from 725 million shillings.

The board declared an interim dividend of 4.00 shillings per share, payable on or about Oct. 19 to shareholders on the register at the close of business on Sept. 21, up from 2.50 shillings paid for the same period last year.

BOC Kenya attributed the revenue decline mainly to the absence of one-off customer engineering projects that had contributed significantly to sales in the prior-year period.

“Distribution, selling and administrative expenses increased by 17% during the period, mainly driven by inflationary pressures, as well as higher fuel and energy costs,” the company said, adding that the combined effect of lower revenue and higher costs drove the drop in profit.

Earnings before finance income and tax fell to 139.7 million shillings from 229.7 million shillings, while profit before tax declined to 157.6 million shillings from 251.6 million shillings, the company said.

Earnings per share dropped to 5.14 shillings from 8.54 shillings a year earlier.

Gross profit fell to 330.5 million shillings from 392.4 million shillings over the period, the filing showed.

Despite the lower earnings, BOC Kenya’s balance sheet improved during the half-year period. Total assets rose to 2.74 billion shillings from 2.58 billion shillings at the end of December 2025, while total equity increased to 2.34 billion shillings from 2.20 billion shillings.

Cash and cash equivalents stood at 1.29 billion shillings at the end of June, up from 1.05 billion shillings at the start of the period, the company said.

The company said the unaudited financial statements were prepared using accounting policies consistent with those applied in its most recent audited financial statements.

BOC Kenya said it remained committed to delivering high-quality products and services while maintaining safety, reliability and quality standards, and that it was focused on creating sustainable value for customers and shareholders through the execution of its growth strategy.

“The Company’s transition towards a greater focus on its core business commenced at a slower pace during the first half of the year but is gaining significant momentum in the second half,” the company said.

It added that the accelerated execution of the strategy was expected to support revenue growth, improve earnings quality and sustainability, and partially offset the impact of the completed one-off engineering projects.

BOC Kenya also said it was strengthening partnerships with industry stakeholders, a move it expects to enhance operational resilience, broaden market reach and support long-term growth and profitability.

BOC Kenya, established in Mombasa in 1940, supplies industrial, medical and special gases across East Africa, including oxygen, nitrogen and liquefied petroleum gas, along with packaged cylinder gases and engineering services such as medical gas pipelines and storage tanks.

It expanded into Nairobi in 1947 and later into Kisumu, Kampala, Mwanza and Dar es Salaam, and has been listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange since 1969.

The company operates through three segments – Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda – via subsidiaries including East African Oxygen Limited, BOC Tanzania Limited and BOC Uganda Limited. BOC Kenya is a subsidiary of Germany’s Linde Group, one of the world’s largest industrial gas companies.

Shares of BOC Kenya trade on the Nairobi bourse under the ticker “BOC.” The stock has a market capitalisation of roughly 2.97 billion shillings, ranking it among the smaller and more thinly traded counters on the exchange.