eBusiness Weekly
Enacy Mapakame
Equities on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) returned to the black after four of the benchmark indicators closed the week to Wednesday in the positive gains led by medium caps.
During the week under review, the primary indicator the ZSE All Share Index closed 1,8 percent above prior week to settle at 6 712 points.
The blue chips, the ZSE Top 10 added 0,8 percent to 3 572 points while the ZSE Top 15 added 1 percent to settle at 4 094 points.
The Medium Cap paced the fastest with a 3,5 percent increase to 17 582 points from 16 987 points.
At 223 897 points, the Small Cap was the only indicator to close in the negative with a 0,75 percent decline.
Total market value added 1,7 percent to settle at $799 billion from $785 billion in the prior week reflecting gains recorded across board.
Zeco headlined risers for the second consecutive week after it doubled to 0,12 cents. Dairibord followed with a 20 percent increase to $42 as the food and dairy processor reported revenue for the half year to June 30, 2021 rose 65 percent to $4,2 billion driven by a strong sales volume performance together with moderate price adjustments to minimise margin compression. In terms of volumes, the group achieved a record first half (H1) sales volume performance in five years after overall volumes for the six months to June 30, 2021 jumped 54,5 percent ahead of same period last year.
Hospitality group, African Sun put on 19 percent of value to $9,54. Diversified resources group, RioZim advanced 17 percent to $33 from $28 recorded in the previous week.
Banking firm, NMB wrapped the week’s top five risers with a 14 percent increase to $16 compared to prior week’s $14.
The market was not short of laggards as the top five fallers were dominated by financial services providers. NTS fell the hardest with a 25 percent to $8 from $10,80 recorded in the previous week. Insurance group, Fidelity Life fell 19 percent to $8,10 while parent company ZHL was also on the downside with a 7 percent decline to $3,63 from $3,91.
At $7,61, GetBucks was 6 percent below prior week level while MedTech also fell by the same margin to close at 24,52 cents wrapping up the week’s top five fallers.
Other losses were seen in FCB which eased 3 percent to $3 as the bank reported operating profit (profit before tax excluding investment property and joint venture fair valuation) for the half year to June 30, 2021 was $669 million compared to $97 million in the prior year, translating to earnings per share of 7 cents. The strong performance was underpinned by loan book growth from the second half of last year to current period coupled with transactional volumes and fee increases. Costs continue to be inflation driven.
Telecoms giant, Econet went down 2 percent to $34,50. Fintech group, Cassava eased 0,8 percent to $19,01. Cassava said improvements in transactional activity buoyed its revenue performance for the quarter to August 31, 2021, which was 70 percent ahead of same period last year.
During the week under review, cigarettes maker BAT remained flat at $950 after reporting increased investment-related strategies led to a 27 percent rise in sales volumes compared to the same period last year despite the challenging operating environment exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cables manufacturer, Cafca was also unchanged at $170, while cement producer Lafarge was also stagnant at $94.
