Bse liquidity on the rise

  • P1bn turnover recorded in H1
  • 411.6 million shares traded
  • Letshego leads big traders
  • Bonds, ETFs activity on the rise

THATO OBUSITSWE

Trading activity and liquidity on the domestic bourse recorded a rise for the first half of 2018, achieving P1 billion turnover from the trade of shares, Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) announced in its Market Performance Report for the 1st half (H1) of 2018.
The BSE has recorded a turnover of P1.08 billion as at June 30th, 2018, from 411.6 million shares traded, up from P903.8 million from a total volume of 291.4 Mn shares traded during the same period in 2017. The figures reflect an impressive upsurge in value of P181 million, while the number of shares traded during the same period increased by 120.2 million.
The average daily turnover at the Thapelo Tsheole led Exchange, this year (2018) has been P8.8 million, growing significantly from P7.3 million in 2017.
The top three traded companies in terms of value, on a year to date basis, were the micro-finance firm, Letshego Holdings Limited, which traded shares worth P334.8 million. Headed by Group Managing Director Christopher Low, Letshego, the pan African lender, operates in across the 11 African countries: Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Kenya, Uganda, Namibia, Rwanda, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania and the recently established Ghanaian operations which brought its customer base to over 480,000. Analysts see Letshego, a P3.7 billion market capitalized outfit as a profitable investment due to its operating model that allows it to be well diversified, after expanding its operations to commercial banking. The group operates at low risk, as it uses a government deduction code, which minimizes the occurrence of defaults on loans.
Retail property firm, New African Properties (NAP) traded shares to the tune of P291.4 million. Cash Bazar Holdings, a company owned by millionaire investor John Maynhardt and family own 30.4 percent, while Debswana Pension Fund is also a major shareholder.
The newly listed retail distributor, CA Sales saw shares worth P177.4 million exchanging hands of investors.
From the Report, it emerges that a relatively lower number of companies account for a bulk of turnover over this period; the companies were Letshego, NAP and CA Sales. The three companies accounted for 74.1 percent of total turnover during the first half of 2018. During the same period in 2017, three companies accounted to 50.9 percent of BSE turnover.
During the first half of 2018, the BSE advises that local companies contributed 60.1 percent to total turnover compared to 59.1 percent in the corresponding period for 2017. Local individuals contributed 3.5 percent of total turnover recorded during the period January 1st to June 30th, 2018 compared to 5.9 percent in the corresponding period for 2017.
The BSE also deals with Exchange Traded Fuds (ETFs). From the Report, the ETF Board experienced an increased level of activity in the first half of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017. The value of units traded increased in the year to date period, reaching P186.9 million compared to P131.9 million in the corresponding period in 2017 whereas the number of units traded decreased from 3.2 million units in 2017 and 2 million units in 2018.
Activity on the bond market has improved compared to the same period in 2017. The value of bonds traded during the year-to date period was P755.7 million in comparison to P85.2 million traded during the same period in 2017.