ZSE All Share index pushes up 161% in May

The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange recorded a 161% jump on the All Share Index in May. With the Zimbabwean dollar under fire from all angles, share prices have been adjusting to preserve value on the capital markets. The situation will remind many of recent years when the Stock Exchanges have been punished for nominal performance. Let’s look at the highlights for May 2023.

Gainers

The ZSE and Finsec combined a total of 48 gainers in the month. Old Mutual Zimbabwe Limited rode the back of good results and the launch of O’Mari to record a mind-blowing 417.24% gain month on month. SeedCo pulled with an impressive 385% gain while CBZ woke up from a slumber to record 310.46% growth. The month largely belonged to heavyweight counters as they dominated the gainers. OK Zimbabwe (+245.94%), TSL (+236.09%), Datvest Modified Consumer Staples ETF (+225.23%), Econet (+217.41%) and Miekles (+203.31%) all gave investors double plus in May. Delta (+196.44%) and Tanganda (+195.98%) closed out the top ten gainers.

Losers

Unsurprisingly in such bullish times, there was only one loser on the Zimbabwean dollar-dominated exchanges. That honour goes to the highest-priced counter in Zimbabwe, BAT, which fell 20.59%. The only other counters that failed to register any movement were regular non-mover ZECO and Bridgefort Capital Class B shares.

VFEX

Victoria Falls, on the other hand, had much more of a mixed bag. two gainers, six losers, two new entrants and two non-movers in May. National Foods took the VFEX cup in May with a 17.68% jump. That’s more than impressive in US dollar-denominated equities. The Nedbank Depositary receipt gained 10.60% in the month. Caledonia Depositary Receipts and SeedCo International were the non-movers for the month. The Victoria Falls Stock Exchange welcomed its first IPO in WestProp, which was listed at $10 a share and held there for the month. First capital bank made the cross over to the West of Zimbabwe.

The reds owned the board with Simbisa (-1.01%), Axia (-3.06%), Pedenga (-7.24%), Innscor (-10.82%), and African Sun (-11.53%). Bindura Nickel Corporation never ceases to amaze as it somehow found a way to lose investors a further 18.11% in May.

How good are the ZSE returns?

Human beings will always compare things even where it doesn’t quite make sense to do so. While the ZSE’s numbers look impressive compared to the VFEX, we must consider the current state of the currency of account on our exchanges. To rationalise the Zimbabwean dollar-denominated gains, we must compare them to the 60% depreciation in the Zimbabwean dollar in May 2023. for those wondering, the parallel market rate depreciation in the same period is estimated at 43%. Whichever way you look at it, there are still some very impressive returns on the ZSE for May.