adminRoberta Katunga Acting Business Editor
THE wait and see attitude adopted by foreign investors towards investing in Zimbabwe has seen the turnover on the local bourse, the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE), go down by 19 percent as 2014 comes to a close, a development that is likely to continue into 2015, stockbrokers predict. The year 2014 saw a decline in revenue and profitability in most listed big caps like Delta, Innscor, OK and Econet and this contributed significantly to the 19 percent decline in turnover as these companies drive the stock market due to their attraction to foreign investors, which according to stockbrokers has waned off.
Turnover from January to date is estimated to be around $423 million down from $436 million last year same period.
Lynton-Edwards stockbrokers’ research analyst, Mr Kudzanai Sharara, said although turnover this year is slightly lower, it could have been worse off had it not been for big deals where new shareholders in companies like Seed Co, Dawn Properties, TA Holdings and ABC buying out minority shareholders.
“The big deals that happened on the market helped ease off the pressure on the market as the situation would have likely been worse as most of the listed stocks saw a decline in revenue and profitability. These are the same companies that foreign investors have always been interested in but the attraction has gone down as investors continue to adopt a wait and see attitude,” said Mr Sharara.
According to statistics from the ZSE, the months of January and August recorded the highest turnover with $63,97 million and $66,39 million respectively while July recorded the lowest turnover of 25,22 million.
The value of shares bought by foreigners for the period January to November 2014 amounted to 272,77 million while the value of shares sold by foreigners was $179,35 million.
Online Reporter