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| Nico shines on stock market |
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by
Ayam Maeresa, 23 April 2003
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19:03:39
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The National Insurance Company Limited (Nico), previously an underdog on the bourse, was the most improved stock in the last three months in terms of share price out of the nine listed companies, the Malawi Stock Exchange (MSE) has said.
A quarterly market report by MSE said Nico gained 49 tambala per share or an 18 percent increase to trade at K3.20 by the end of last month, up from K2.71 in January.
But the report said the most traded stock on the bourse was National Bank of Malawi (NBM), which traded the biggest volume of 11,881,743 shares, representing more than half of the total volume of shares the market traded during the period.
The market traded 22,307,347 shares at a turnover of K192 million compared to 19,159,840 shares at K136.6 million recorded same period last year.
Tourism company Sunbird was the only stock that did not trade during the period, while Blantyre Hotels, Commercial Bank of Malawi, Press Corporation, Packaging Industries, Sugar Corporation of Malawi and Old Mutual plc were all price losers.
The report said the Malawi All Share Index (Masi)--a barometer of activity on the market--closed the quarter at 292.08 points, down from 313.40 points in January. The Masi moved up to 340 points in third week of February, said the report.
The MSE said the Masi dropped because of a decline in the Foreign Share Index (FSI), resulting from a decrease in the share price of Old Mutual plc to K95 per share from K102.
The report said the market capitalisation for the nine stocks increased to K428.7 billion from K395.1 billion.
“Despite the improved performance, the market remains characterised by more offers than bids with progressively lower prices on most counters,” added the report.
The bourse was rated the second worst performing market in Africa after Zimbabwe last year by a local commercial bank.
The bank said the bourse gave a negative return of 35 percent, while its ratings were also the worst on the continent, with an average price earnings ratio of 3.2 percent against an African average of 13.9 percent.
But the MSE said the exchange suffered from lack of investor confidence in the light of uncertainties on future business prospects. |
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