African Thoughts: May 20, 2013

As developed markets continue to grind higher on positive sentiment ahead of the summer period in the Northern Hemisphere, the positivity and interest continues in the African space. As per usual we take a look at some of the best and worst performing bourses across the African continent from last week.

Zimbabwe:

The Zimbabwean market was the best performing bourse on the continent last week with the Industrial and Mining Index gaining 2.71% and 1.93% respectively. Delta kicked off the March reporting season with the beverage giant reporting better than forecast earnings as the counter managed to gain a very impressive 5.93%. Other heavyweight stocks in the form of Natfoods (+6.12%) and Seedco (+1.44%) put in solid performances on the back of foreign interest. In terms of activity Delta also led from the front as foreigners showed plenty of interest in the counter while there was a very large cross in Innscor on Friday where both the buyer and the seller were local.

Nigeria:

The Nigerian market put in an exceptional performance last week with the ASI gaining 2.49%. The market was led higher by consumer stocks as the Consumer Goods Index gained 2.75% thanks to the likes of Cadbury and Nestle after Cadbury reported Q1 2013 results which saw PAT increase to N1.14bn. Banking stocks put in another solid performance with the Bank 10 Index gaining 1.48% and were once again the leaders in terms of activity accounting for 77% of turnover. UBA was one of the star performers last week after posting Q1 2013 results which saw PAT increase to N15.16bn. International Breweries put in an exceptional performance last week after rumours started doing the rounds that SABMiller are looking to buy a substantial stake in the brewer.

Kenya:

The Kenyan market put in a very pleasing performance with the NSE 20 index gaining 1.8%. With foreign participation slowing down early in the week foreign inflows fell to $7.87m. From a performance point of view EABL was one of the top gainers as foreigners continue to seek exposure to the name with the counter gaining 14% for the week to close at 391. After releasing better than expected FY 2013 results, Safcom gained a rather impressive 2.9%, pushed higher by both foreigners and locals. KenolKobil has taken an absolute beating lately (after PUMA pulling out of the proposed takeover) and manage to recover some of the damage done with the counter being last week’s best performer and gaining 19.9%.

Ghana:

The Ghanaian market’s rally continued last week with the GSE Composite Index gaining 0.68% taking the YTD rally to an unbelievable 53.62%. Tullow Oil was one of the top performers with the counter gaining 6.45% after the Executive Chairman assured shareholders that a strategy has been put in place to maximize profit. Ecobank Ghana led from activity point of view and accounted for 21.93% of turnover. SIC reported Q1 2013 results which signaled a return to profitability for the company as the counter managed to gain 6.90% on the back of these numbers.

Mauritius:

On the negative side there was some profit taking in Mauritius last week with the Semdex falling 0.2%. Bramer Bank and MCB came under pressure with the names falling 5.2% and 1.0% respectively while SBM managed to gain 1% on the back of some foreign buying. MCB released interim results last week with the name initially rallying on the back of these numbers but then succumbing to profit taking towards the end of the week. SBM released Q3 2013 results with investors seemingly pleased with the outcome. Tourist arrivals for April decreased by 3.7% in April to 76,223 visitors compared to 79,137 a year earlier.