African Thoughts: February 24, 2014


Nigeria:

The market closed the week slightly lower in Lagos with the ASI falling 0.07% led lower once again by the banking sector which fell -2.50% after President Goodluck Jonathan suspended the Governor of Central Bank, Mallam Lamido Sanusi over alleged "acts of financial recklessness and misconduct". On a positive note, value traded increased by 21% with the likes of Guaranty Trust Bank, First Bank and Nigerian Breweries being amongst the most active. Guinness Nigeria Plc released their H1-14 results for the period ended 31st December, 2013. Revenue was down by 13% yoy to N52.7bn (H1-12 : N60.9bn). PBT was down to N6.4bn (H1-12:N9.4bn) while PAT was down to N4.9bn (H1-12:N6.4bn). Furthermore, Cadbury Nigeria Plc notified the Nigerian Stock Exchange that all actions required to make the capital reduction effective have been completed with the successful filing of the court sanction with the Corporate Affairs Commission ("CAC") on 12th February 2014 ("Effective Date").

Kenya:

The market closed the week slightly lower in Nairobi with the NSE 20 index falling -0.05% on the back of foreign out flows ($5.34m). On the positive side, activity increased 12.8% as an increase in foreign activity drove proceedings. After a few weeks of foreign selling, foreign demand finally managed to return to EABL as the brewer accounted for 31.7% of total foreign purchases ($19.34m). Foreigners were however net sellers in the likes of Diamond Trust Bank, Safcom and Kenya Commercial Bank. The European Union has committed to providing KES 22.4bn to support agricultural activities in arid and semi-arid areas in Kenya. Airtel Kenya has introduced a debit card that will allow its mobile money transfer customers to withdraw money from Visa automated teller machines across the world.

Zimbabwe :

The market managed to close the week higher in Harare with the Industrial Index gaining 0.91% to close at 190.71 thanks to gains in Econet (+2.58%) and Delta (+1.54%). There was also an increase in activity as value traded amounted to $7.05m for the week thanks to a cross in Seedco ($2.3m) while activity also increased in foreign favourites Delta and Econet. Foreigners were net sellers for the week ($800k). Zimstats reported a widening trade deficit to $4.2bn for the year ending December 2013, which equates to a 16% increase over the previous year.

Mauritius:

The market closed the week lower in Port Louis with the Semdex falling 0.1% to close at 2,085.39. Banking stocks were mixed with MCB gaining +0.2% while SBM and Bramer fell -0.9% and 6.4% respectively. The Supreme Court approved the Scheme of Arrangement whereby shareholders of MCB will exchange their ordinary shares held in MCB for ordinary shares in MCB Group Limited (MCBG) on a 1:1 ratio. NMH hotels managed to gain a decent 1.2% after reporting an increase of 8.9% in attributable earnings for the quarter ending 31 December 2013.

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