African Thoughts: June 23, 2014

Zimbabwe:

The Industrials index rose by an impressive 7.15% last week with the large caps continuing to drive market sentiment. Delta launched a new yoghurt drink during the week (consolidating Delta's continued interest in diversifying into non-alcoholic drinks) and we saw the beverages giant gain 6% to 124.01c. Econet rose by 2.8% to 74c while Innscor increased by 6% to 80.01c. Market activity remains low with foreign participation also rather dire.

Nigeria:

The NSE ASI fell by 93bps last week with both the banks (-4.93%) and the consumers (-2.20%) dragging the bourse lower. This was counteracted by a massive +51.85% return for Oando (N30.37). The buying started ahead of the mid-week announcement that Oando is to acquire the Nigerian business of ConocoPhilips. Banks were mixed yet the selling did outweigh the gains with most of the stocks closing in the red. In the consumers almost the entire activity was focused on Nestle (-1.87%, N1050) and NB (-4.66%, N166.50). As with all other African markets turnover was reduced with foreign participation rather low.

Kenya:

The NSE 20 fell for the second straight week as foreign participation remains low. The most active stock for the week was Safcom which issued a notice during the week clarifying that the cost of deploying the full public safety security project to all 47 countries (incl Nairobi and Mombasa) is KES 21.5bn inclusive of maintenance costs. The telco shed 80bps to KES12.80 for the week while EABL fell by 3.5% for the week to KES278. The banks had a mixed week - Equity Bank rallied hard until Friday yet still ended the week 3.5% higher at KES49.75 while KNCB dipped marginally to KES49.75.

Mauritius:

The Mauritian bourse lost 30bps last week mostly due to weakness in the banking sector. The large caps both fell with MCBG losing 1.4% to Rs216 while SBM decreased by 1% to Rs1.04. Bramer Banking also fell but only by 30bps to Rs6.80. The hotel sector was mixed with NMH falling while Sun Resorts increased slightly. Also to note during the week was the acquisition of Sun Resorts shares by Ciel while in general trading there were a number of chunky bookovers.

Botswana:

Gaborone was generally quiet although Letshego jumped by 10.29% to 22t thereby arresting its recent weakness.