ZSE edges out 9.05% gain in August

The ZSE performed over expectations for a tense month that hosted harmonised elections. The All Share Index gained 9.05% for investor portfolios. There were some impressive performances. The gainers outweighed the losers by 25 to 22. The remaining 3 were non movers. The losses however were quite significant where they occured. The Victoria Falls Stock exchange also marginally tipped towards gainers. However in investment funds the losers outweighed the gainers.

Gainers

RioZim was king of the hill in August providing faithful investors with triple plus return on their money. 226.09% return is impressive regardless of the currency of measure. Dairibord found solid ground to double investor value returning 100.84% in the month. Finsec listed Old Mutual Zimbabwe Limited (OMZIL) made investors 57.05% in the month of August. Other impressive returns came from beverage giant Delta (+44.89%), BAT Zimbabwe (+23.81%) and Rainbow Tourism Group (+22.01%). Nampak (+15,04%) made an appearance in the top ten gainers while Bridge Fort Capital Class B (+14.85%) made a rare appearance on the gainers snapshot. Fidelity (+14.79%) and Ecocash (+14.47%) closed out the top 10.

Losers

In the last week of the month the ZSE reviewed circuit breakers for counters with a value below the equivalent of 1 US cent (at interbank rate) equalling ZWL$45 at the time. Where these counters were allowed to move (up or down) a maximum of 20% this was expanded to 100% in a single day. As a result Willdale dropped 81.87% of its value in the month of August. Masimba holdings had a bearish month conceding a mind boggling 52.39% of investor value. The Datvest ETF (DMCS) dropped 32.96% while high flying SeedCo surrendered 26.41% of investor value. CBZ also brought a significant blow to investors dropping 20.66% in a dividend paying month. The Morgan & Co Multi Sector ETF (MCMS -18.79%), TSL (-17.89%), ZB Financial Holdings (-15.13%), Ariston (-13.85%) and Tanganda (-13.44%) made up the bottom 10. The 3 non movers were represented by flag bearer ZECO, CFI and Truworths.

ETFs and REIT

The investment funds board was dominated by blood. The aforementioned DMCS and MCMS with the biggest losses. Further losses were heaped on by the OMTT(-10.05%) and Morgan & Cos Made In Zimbabwe ETF (-2.02%). Only the Tigere REIT (+2.03%) and the Cass Saddle Agriculture ETF (+5.61%) bucked the trend.

VFEX

Meanwhile to the West of Zimbabwe the board tipped to the favour of gainers. Axia snapped a 4 month losing streak to bounce back big time rewarding investors with a 43.46% gain. Innscor flexed its muscles gaining 24.10% while associate Simbisa was also up 11.91%. Padenga (+0.80%) and SeedCo International (+0.40%) made marginal gains in the month. Caledonia, First Capital Bank, National Foods, Nedbank joined serial non mover WestProp. Zimplow (-16.30%) joined freefalling Bindura Nickel Corporation (-19.86%) to record losses. African Sun found the bottom of the barrell losing investors a painful 34% in the month of August.

The market overall showed some confidence. Bank and Financial Institutions half year results started trickling in towards the end of August with many posting impressive results. The freeing of circuit breakers for penny stocks has so far yielded negative results for small caps and this is also concerning. The market looks ready to pick up after a tense month provided the road ahead is smooth.