In a week that saw the highest number of companies’ share fall, the Lusaka Securities Exchange had a reduced number of shares being traded from the previous week with strong turnover in comparison.
Bond Activity
During the week, bonds of total face value of K13,779,000 were transacted in 16 trades, yielding a market value sales of K9,027,000.
Weekly Trading Diary
Monday 11th
- 100 shares traded on the LuSE Main Tier on the day
- CEC contributed 100% to the total shares traded, trading at a share price of at K1.68 per share.
- A total turnover of K168 (USD14) was generated
- The LuSE ASI maintained the previous close of 5,781.61 points.
- Year-to-date, the LUSE ALSI is up 10.16% in local currency terms, and up 9.25% in USD currency terms
Tuesday was a national holiday hence the exchange was closed
Wednesday 13th
- 13,927 shares were transacted in 19 trades on the day
- Market turnover was K32,468.
- CEC Zambia and Standard Chartered Zambia recorded losses of K0.01 and K0.02 respectively.
- Trading activity was recorded in Lafarge and PUMA.
- The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 5,769.69 points down by 0.21% from its previous close of 5781.61 points.
- The market closed on a capitalization of K62,661,193,603 including Shoprite Holdings and K28,421,987,623 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Thursday 14th
- 28 trades recorded on the day,
- 127,874 shares were transacted, yielding a market turnover of K301,642.
- A share price loss of K0.05 was recorded in CEC Zambia with 83,625 shares of the company traded on the day.
- Trading activity was also recorded in AEL Zambia, Airtel, Standard Chartered Bank and CEC Africa on the quoted tier.
- CEC Africa traded 39,847 shares, generating a total turnover of K7,969.
- The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 5,750.15 points down by 0.34% from its previous close of 5,769.69 points.
- The market closed on a capitalization of K62,579,943,573 including Shoprite Holdings and K28,340,737,593 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Friday 15th
- 61,242 shares were transacted in 16 trades, resulting in a market turnover of K136,357.
- Share price losses of K2.50, K3.50, K0.07, K0.25 and K0.01 in AEL Zambia, Airtel, CEC Zambia (46,260 shares traded on the day), Lafarge Zambia and ZCCM Investment Holdings respectively.
- 46,260 shares of CEC Zambia traded on the day
- Trading activity was also recorded in CEC Africa on the quoted tier.
- The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 5,610.99 points down by 2.42% from its previous close of 5,750.15 points.
- The market closed on a capitalization of K61,999,559,052 including Shoprite Holdings and K27,760,353,072 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Financial Insight Weekly Analysis
In a buyers and sellers’ market, week 3 experienced the effects of supply and demand with 5 companies suffering capital losses through falling share prices. Of note, the volume of shares traded for these companies was substantial. This implies that sellers on the market were forced to reduce on their offer prices in order to get matches for their transactions to close (signals of buyer power). Liquidity concerns may be one of the factors as buyers are on the lookout for bargains.
Airtel Zambia and AEL Zambia lost 9.97% and 9.8% respectively of their value. This made the securities the biggest losers in March thus far. AEL Zambia’s share price had risen to its best price at the end of February to K25 following a 41.67% increase but now stands at K23 and still marginally outperforms the LuSE All Share index. However, Airtel Zambia on the other hand now under performs in comparison to the index.
AEL Price to Earnings ratio (PE) now stands at 6.87 while Airtel is 9 signalling the former being a “preferable” investment destination for shorter term investors. However, both securities continue to investors looking in curiously. Airtel recently published on SENS that the Company’s Earnings Per Share (“EPS”) for the year ended 31December 2018 is expected to be approximately 82% lower than the year ended 31 December 2017. This is evidence of the threat of competition in the mobile telecommunications industry.
CEC Zambia had the most shares traded and dominated in turnover peaking at K215 thousand. Airtel ranked second albeit with minimal shares traded in comparison to CEC Zambia all thanks to its high value share price (Airtel K23: CEC Zambia K1.55). PUMA trades were on the tail end of trades with the lowest turnover and shares traded.
Important Announcements
Lafarge – Trading statement
Shareholders of the Company were advised that the Earnings Per Share (“EPS”) for the six-month period ended 30 June 2018 is expected to be approximately 194% higher than for the six-month period ended 30 June 2017. The movement in EPS is primarily attributed to an increase in sales revenue in 2018 over 2017 as well as a reduction in production costs compared to same period prior year.
REIZ – Abridged 2018 Financial Statements Published
The REIZ Group reported a profit after tax for 2018 of ZMW2.8 million compared to ZMW25.0 million for 2017. Revenue declined in 2018 by 22.4% to ZMW50.6 million from ZMW65.2 million in 2017 while profit from operations increased to K54.1 million in 2018 from K42.7 million in 2017.
BATA – Abridged 2018 Financial Statements Published
The company reported turnover for the year was K 153,803,812 which is an increase of 9 % against K 141,249,414 which was achieved the previous years. Profit before tax achieved was K 25,022,888, which is an increase of 49 % against K 16,738,834 achieved in 2017. These are impressive figures which really means the Zambian public are truly supporting us in a great way. On our part, we shall endeavour to do everything possible to take this Company to greater heights by ensuring that we capture the footwear market in this country.