ZSE packs on 58.14%

Zimbabwe is in a bit of a strange place at the moment. The currency has been in a free fall for the half year losing 89.39% on the official exchange market and 88.75% on the parallel market for foreign exchange. The ZSE has shown a clear response to this devaluation in the currency with counters battling to preserve shareholder value. The ZSE All Share Index put on a 58.14% in the month of June alone. The VFEX meanwhile showed mixed trading during the month.

Gainers

FBC lead the bulls in the month gaining a whopping 550.97%. Delivering investors 5 fold in the month was head and shoulders above the rest. CAFCA gained 304.02% in the same month while Zimre Holdings surprised and gained investors 282.96%. It was a mixed bag at the top of the gainer’s list. Willdale (+220.95%), CBZ Holdings (++209.12%), BAT (186.81%), CFI (174.52%), and Zimplow (159.96%) all gave investors significant returns for the month. Funds in the form of the Morgan and Co Multi-Sector ETF (155.12%) and the Tigere Real Estate Investment Trust (153.13%) closed out the top 10.

There were no losers on the ZSE, Finsec and the ETF board in June. However, there were 3 non-movers in the month. Regular non-mover ZECO was joined by Bridgefort Capital Class B and Zimpapers in that regard.  For those of you trying to put context to these numbers the exchange rate gained (depreciated) 1545.50% on the official market and 128.57% on the parallel market. So any counter that fails to beat those hurdles was negative in real terms.

On the growing VFEX board, only Bindura brought some good news. The company snapped its losing streak to profit investors to the tune of 53.85%. Padenga was the only other counter in the positive with a marginal 0.59% gain. Caledonia, Nedbank and recent entrant WestProp traded horizontally for the month. The rest of the board was a bloodbath. Simbisa (-5.14%), Innscor (-5.90%), National Foods (-7.20%) and SeedCo International (-7.24%) all suffered contained losses in the month. Meanwhile, Axia (-18.53%) shareholders suffered a significant loss in value. Recent crossovers from the ZSE African Sun (-23.40% and First Capital (-39.80%) gave investors the most to think about in the month of June.

With the cooling of the currency market, we can expect a slowdown in the stock exchange. However, the past has taught us that periods of Zimbabwean appreciation or even stability do not hold long. And when they do come to an end the currency goes on a free fall to outdo the previous one.