The Malawi Stock Exchange (MSE) recorded mixed tidings in 2019 with traded volumes surging but value shrinking.
According to an Annual Market Performance Report for 2019, the market transacted a total of 1,393,849,808 shares in 3,064 trades in 2019 which is 45.46 percent above the 958,247,064 shares transacted in 2,153 trades in 2018.
In terms of traded value, in 2019 the market traded shares worth K46,370,960,122.47 ($63,638,717.53) which is 4.7 percent shy of the K48,695,858,938.08 ($66,982,969.12) realized in 2018.
The report says, of the shares traded, 532,557,714 NBS Bank, 55,439,183 Nico Holdings, 254,000 Old Mutual, 3,009,000 Press Corporation Limited and 1,471,563 Sunbird traded as negotiated deals.
“Daily average share trades exhibited similar trends where the market registered an average daily volume of 5,620,362 shares compared to 3,863,899 shares traded in the corresponding period 2018 reflecting an increase of 45.46 percent.
“The average daily turnover for the year 2019 was K186,979,664.02 ($256,607.73) compared with K196,354,269.91 ($270,092.62) for the corresponding period 2018, reflecting a decrease of –4.77 percent (-4.99 percent in dollar terms),” reads the report in part.
It says the market registered a positive return on index as reflected in the upward movement of the Malawi All Share Index (Masi) from 28983.53 points registered on January 2, 2019 to 30252.20 points registered on December 31 2019, giving a return on index of 4.38 percent (3.41 percent in dollar terms) compared to 34.19 percent, (33.42 percent in dollar terms) registered in 2018.
The MSE report says price gains registered by eight counters namely National Bank of Malawi, Mpico, NBS, PCL, Icon, Nico, Standard Bank and Nitl were enough to offset share price losses by FMB Capital Holdings, Illovo, Sunbird, TNM, Old Mutual and Blantyre Hotels Limited.
The Domestic and Foreign Share indices closed at 23599.75 and 4024.86 points, respectively.
In 2019, MSE market capitalisation increased in kwacha and United States Dollar terms from K1,284,705.65 million ($1,760.24 million) on January 2 2019 to K1,428,752.94 million ($1,939.51 million) on December 31 2019.
