Trading week 7 replaced week 6 as the weakest week of trading in 2019 thus far on the Lusaka Securities Exchange with turnover dropping by 48%.
The week saw a total of 91,711 shares were transacted in 65 trades, yielding a market turnover of K73,968. Share price gain of K0.01 was posted CEC Zambia while Lafarge ,Standard Chartered Bank and Zamefa recorded loss es of K0.03, K0.01 and K0.02 respectively.
Companies Traded
Trading activity was recorded in Airtel, Bata, British America Tobacco, Lafarge, Standard Chartered Bank, Zamefa, Zambia Sugar and CEC Africa on the quoted tier. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 5,768.03 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K62,654,293,913 including Shoprite Holdings and K28,415,087,933 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Bond Market
During the week, bonds of total face value of K443,873,000 were transacted in 34 trades, yielding a market value sales of K322,007,000.
Daily Trading Activity
11 February
- 5 trade recorded on the day
- 13,026 shares were transacted, yielding a market turnover of K6,103.
- Share price gain of K0.23 was posted in CEC Zambia.
- Trading activity was also recorded in Airtel and CEC Africa on the Quoted tier.
- The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 5,679.84 points up by 1.58% from its previous close of 5,679.84 points.
12 February
- 8,410 shares traded on the LuSE Main Tier today, of which CEC Zambia contributed 60% to the total shares traded, trading 5,034 shares at a share price of at K1.69 per share.
- A total turnover of K18,166 (USD1,523) was generated on the LuSE today, of which CEC Zambia contributed 47%
- 44,455 CEC Africa shares traded on the Quoted tier, generating a total turnover of K8,891.
- The LuSE ASI maintained the previous close of 5,764.02 points. Year-to-date, the LUSE ALSI is up 9.82% in local currency terms, and up 10.84% in USD currency terms
13 February
- 5,700 shares traded on the LuSE Main Tier today, of which CEC contributed 95% to the total shares traded, trading 5,400 shares at a share price of at K1.69 per share.
- A total turnover of K9,897 (USD817) was generated on the LuSE today, of which CEC contributed 92%
- 44,455 CCAF shares traded on the Quoted tier, generating a total turnover of K8,891.
- The LuSE ASI closed at 5,764.03 points, up 0.0002% from the previous close of 5,764.02 points. Year-to-date, the LUSE ALSI is up 9.82% in local currency terms, and up 9.10% in USD currency terms
14 February
- 13,202 shares traded on the LuSE Main Tier today, of which CEC contributed 85% to the total shares traded, trading 11,207 shares at a share price of at K1.69 per share.
- A total turnover of K23,525 (USD1,965) was generated on the LuSE today, of which CEC contributed 81%
- The LuSE ASI closed at 5,768.03 points. Year-to-date, the LUSE ALSI is up 9.90% in local currency terms, and up 10.54% in USD currency terms
15 February
- 5 trades recorded on the day
- 14,528 shares were transacted, yielding a market turnover of K7,208.
- Trading activity was recorded in Airtel Zambia, CEC Zambia, Zambian Breweries and CEC Africa on the quoted tier.
- The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) maintained its previous close of 5,768.03 points as there were no price movements.
- The market remained on a capitalization of K62,654,293,913 including Shoprite Holdings and K28,415,087,933 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Financial Insight Analysis
The LuSE continued with a bearish outlook for the second week in a row signalling reduced investor appetite to participate in buy and selling of shares with 59% less shares traded in week 2 compared to week 1.
Contraction in number of trades was also exacerbated by the reduction of companies being traded. Although the kwacha’s performance against the dollar marginally improved to an average of 11.95 from 12.02 kwacha to the United States Dollar, this was not enough to inspire more trades on the local exchange.
With January 2019 inflation remaining in the 6 to 8% range, Financial Insight notes that there is a deceleration in inflation. With deceleration, investors will opt for safer assets such as fixed income bonds and treasury bills as opposed to equity investments. The improvement in the yield rates for Zambia’s Eurobonds are the first signal for 2019 that indicates the appetite for fixed income is becoming real.
With the MPC announcement coming in week 3 of February, investors will be keenly listening to Dr Denny Kalyalya’s Statement on how the Central Bank will chose to move on rates.
Important Announcements
This week’s important announcements from listed companies included the resignation of a director at Zambeef and the appointment of a CEO at Lafarge.
Zambeef
The ink had hardly dried on Executive Director and Board Member Yusuf Koya’s departure from the Zambeef Board on 4th February before another announcement from the company was made that the Chief Financial Officer would also be following suit.
Craig Harris resigned on 12th February barely a week after the company had announced the departure of Yusuf who was instrumental in raising the funds that formed part of the capital that Craig used in managing the capital structure of Zambeef over the last seven years in the role. It marks barely a year after the then dual CEO Dr Carl Irwin exited following CDC’s investment into the company. Read more.
Lafarge
After two months of searching for a new CEO, the Board at Lafarge Holcim Zambia Plc announced the appointment of Jimmy J. Khan as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer effective 12 February 2019.
Jimmy takes over from Vincent Bouckaert who held the role barely two years following his appointment in 2016. He is also a “company man” who joined the Lafarge Holcim group back in April 2004. Vincent’s performance at the helm during his tenure in his last full financial year saw turnover of the company increase 13.3% year on year with cement production growing by 6.7%. Cement sales rose by 7% with the sale of aggregates also enjoying an increase of 4.9%. Read more
All information contained in the weekly update is sourced from LuSE and Stockbrokers Zambia.