Zimpapers Logo

Business Reporter

Zimbabwe Stock Exchange revenue for the six months to July 2016 fell 23 percent to $14 million on the back of a significant fall in volumes traded. Statistics from ZSE also show that the volume of shares that were traded retreaded by 36 percent to 56,52 million shares during the period in review.Trade was concentrated in bellwether stocks with beverages manufacturer, Delta Corporation accounting for half the value that was traded.

Coming a distant second was seed producer, Seed Co, which accounted for only 14 percent and mobile phone network operator, Econet at 13 percent.

The local bourse has lost nearly 14 percent of its year to date value, as the weak economy continues to weigh down on the value of local stocks.

This comes as the stock market, which opened this year at $3,3 billion, has fallen and is trading below the psychological (rebase) 100 level barrier.

But the ZSE was not the heaviest faller in the region in the six months to June with at least two other exchanges recording a worse outturn.

The Nairobi Stock Exchange lost 14,6 percent while the Nigeria Stock Exchange has retreated by 14,66 percent since the beginning of the year.

Investors on the Mauritius Stock Exchange may not have suffered significant loss in value, with the market losing only a marginal 0,17 percent.

The second best performer was the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, which gained 3,14 percent behind the region’s best performer, the Botswana Stock Exchange, which put on 11,65 percent in the half year period.

Equities analysts are downbeat on

the stock market’s performance in

the year ahead as the challenging

macro-economic environment

continues to negatively affect investor sentiment.

Testimony to the challenges the economy is facing, the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority saw collections fall 6 percent below target at $1,65 billion.

Ahead of solutions to improve the ease of doing business, cost of funding, labour laws, attraction of foreign direct investment, currently lower than regional peers, the equities market remains in a bit of trough.

At current company performances, foreign investors are expected to continue sitting on the fence.