African Thoughts: July 21, 2014

Another generally dull week in the African space, with less crosses than has been the case recently.

Zimbabwe:

The Industrials index fell by 46bps last week on dire volumes as economic activity in Zimbabwe remains a concern. The index is now down 8.01% YTD. Despite the low foreign participation they remain skewed to the buy side particularly in the large caps. There were no notable movements in the large caps except for Seedco which gained 5.4% to 78.01c. Econet and Delta both closed unchanged at 74c and 125c respectively.

Nigeria:

The Nigerian ASI rose by 14bps last week with both the banks (+14bps) and the consumers (+58bps) rising slightly. Overall volumes were somewhat disappointing. The rise in the consumers was mostly on the back of Nestle (+1.35%, N1125), Dangote Sugar (+2.2%, N9.30) and NB (+68bps, N175.61). Performance across the banks was varied with no really notable gains or losses recorded. Oando remains actively traded, primarily by local investors, and closed the week softly at N25.00. In economic news we saw the 2014 Q1 GDP come out at 6.21% (down from 6.77% in 2013 Q4) while the CPI for June came out at 8.2% (compared to 8% in May).

Kenya:

Trading volumes in Nairobi were extremely disappointing with foreign participation also rather dire. Both the NSE 20 (+20bps) and the NASI (+30bps) inched higher for the week. Safcom was yet again the most actively traded stock as it accounted for well over 50% of the weekly turnover. The telco slipped by 2.5% to KES 12.10. The banks were both extremely strong with gains of 5.8% for KNCB (KES 54.00) and 5.7% for Equity Bank (KES 46.00). ARML released 2014 H1 results during the week and saw 1 or 2 decent blocks trade (-1%, KES 82.00). In the insurance space, BRIT rose by 6.5% and is now an impressive +48.5% YTD.

Mauritius:

The Semdex gained 10bps while the Sem-7 fell by 40bps last week. The banks had a mixed week, MCBG fell to Rs209 after opening on Monday ex-div at Rs211. SBM ended the week unchanged at Rs1.06 while Bramer Banking gained 60bps to Rs6.80. The hotel sector was strong with gains recorded in NMH (+3%), Sun Resorts (+1.3%) and Lux Island Resorts (+4.9%) while Air Mauritius rose by 1.9% to Rs16.50.