Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. THE Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) gained about US$250 million in real terms in August, buoyed by exchange rate appreciation and strong rallies in Dairibord Holdings Limited (Dairibord) and Rainbow Tourism Group (RTG), lifting its market capitalisation to US$2,10 billion.
The growth in the ZSE’s market capitalisation is from a July comparative of US$1,85 billion.
During August, the ZiG appreciated ever so slightly to end the month at US$1:ZiG26,7548 versus ZiG26,7863 at the end of July.
The ZSE has struggled to make gains on the bourse owing to consistent exchange rate volatility.
“The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange’s market capitalisation went up 1.75% from July to close the month of August at ZiG66,05 billion. The All-Share index rose 1.75% in the period while the Top 10 index climbed 3.00%, rising 3.00%, a swap in the July outcomes,” financial services firm, IH Securities said in its new August market report.
“In real terms, the market capitalisation also rose 13.06% US$2,1 billion, with exchange rate appreciation due to culled local currency liquidity in the month. Dairibord was the top performer in the month with a 61% increase in share price in nominal terms, followed by RTG with a 25% increase.”
Last month, RTG announced its entrance into one of Africa’s top tourist destinations, Cape Town, South Africa, after signing a US$5,6 million sale and purchase agreement to acquire a seven-storey commercial property for conversion into a branded hotel.
This move contributed to its share price rising in value after the firm announced it was now refurbishing its recently acquired Montclair Resort & Conference Hotel in Nyanga.
In terms of Dairibord, the firm revealed in July that it recorded an 18% increase in revenue compared to the same period last year, directly driven by growth in sales volume.
Hence, the firm was anticipating an even stronger second-half-year performance.
“Activity on the exchange was positive with average value traded increasing 13.32% (total value slid 6.39% due to less trading days) in nominal terms to ZiG37,96 million, while average daily volumes also rose 21.44% to 22,62 million. Average daily traded in real terms stood at US$1,18 million,” IH Securities said.
“EcoCash led once more on volumes at 291,33 million shares traded, with Econet posting 107,60 million shares. Econet represented 67,70% of value traded at ZiG531,95 million. In our view, performance of the ZSE still depends heavily on money supply dynamics.”
IH Securities said given the delicate monetary space with the likelihood of policy shifts, they were in favour of agile companies that could navigate the current environment, and in the absence of capital gains, those that were consistent dividend payers.
“The Victoria Falls Stock Exchange had a less robust performance in the month of August, with the All-Share index rising 2.68% to 123,46 in comparison to the 15.15% growth in July. Six counters had positive gains, while three registered losses,” IH Securities said.
“Caledonia (Caledonia Mining Corporation) came up top in performance, up 20% in the month, while Seed Co (Seed Co International Limited) and Padenga (Padenga Holdings Limited) rose 19% and 9%, respectively.”
IH Securities noted that overall, Zimbabwe’s equity markets had a slightly positive performance in August compared to July.
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