By ETimes
It was another positive day for the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange on Thursday as it closed higher by 2.87% on select heavyweight gains.
The performance comes as the use of US dollar payments for power, experts say, will only deteriorate the ease of doing business and encourage dollarization, which is more detrimental to the sector than beneficial.
At the close of business, the ZSE All-Share Index (ASI) appreciated by 2.87% to close at 32,874.16 points and the market capitalisation increased by $74.71 billion to $2.86 trillion from $2.79 million.
Turnover rose 296.20% to $731.20 million from $184.55 million previouZSEsly. Trades stood at 170.
The Top 10 Index went up 3.20% to close 19,490.56 points. CBZ and Delta added 6.06% and 5.79% to finish at $175.00 and $651.60 respectively.
Meikles topped the gainers table, up 15.00% to end at $236.95. TSL was up 14.79% to finish at $85.00. Edgars climbed by 12.84% to close at $18.75. The Medium Cap Index gained the most, up 1.59% to close at 67,030.36 points.
On the flipside, Ariston, Mash Holdings and Starafrica eased 8.55%, 3.38% and 1.20% to close at $10.13, $10.00 and $1.62 in that order. ZHL was off 0.88% to end at $11.35.
Turnall was the worst performer, down 12.50% to close at $7.00. As a result, the Small Cap Index lost 2.62% to end at 664,597.12 points.
Old Mutual ZSE Top 10 gained by $0.1226 to $8.0752, Datvest Modified Consumer Staples ETF increased by $0.0111 to $1.8800 and Cass Saddle Agriculture ETF went up by $0.0033 to close at $2.0933.
Morgan & Co Made In Zimbabwe ETF remained unchanged at $1.4300.
Morgan & Co Multi Sector ETF shed $0.2000 to finish the session at $21.8000.
Tigere REIT remained flat at $50.6200.
Meanwhile, PPC Zimbabwe consequently anticipates a 14% to 18% decrease in sales volumes for the entire year compared to FY22.
“PPC Zimbabwe has engaged the authorities to reduce the impact of the lack of electricity on critical industrial sectors such as cement manufacturing and to ensure a level playing field with importers,” its parent company said in a trading update.
“The outlook for PPC Zimbabwe remains positive and it is expected that EBITDA and EBITDA margins will continue to recover to the levels of FY22 over the coming months.”
For FY23, PPC received US$8.8 million in dividends from PPC Zimbabwe.
“The bi-annual dividend declarations are expected to continue and grow over time,” reads the trading update.
According to the parent company, PPC, the financial position of both PPC Zimbabwe remains solid after reporting positive free cash flow after capital expenditure and net working capital movements – Harare
