African Thoughts: January 13, 2014

Nigeria:

It has been a positive start to the year in Nigeria so far with the ASI gaining 0.37% (YTD) while the market managed to put on a slender gain of 0.07% last week. It was a rollercoaster ride in banking stocks last week with tier-1 banks eventually closing the week lower. Turnover increased 67.55% to $140m with the likes of Nestle, First Bank and Zenith Bank driving activity with substantial crosses taking place in these names during the course of the week. There was also a decent amount of activity in Oando and Guaranty Trust Bank. Access Bank disclosed that it has completed the divestment from its subsidiary in French West African nation- Cote d'Ivoire. Additionally, First City Monument Bank Limited (FCMB) has concluded plans to increase the number of its branches nationwide in order to provide financial services to larger number of bank customers.

Kenya:

It was an impressive week in Nairobi from a performance point of view as the NSE 20 Index managed to gain 3.2%. Turnover also increased 66% to $ 31.3m with foreign participation accounting for 52.6%. Safcom was the star of the show as the telco accounted for 33.8% of turnover while the counter managed to gain 8.8%. Kenya Commercial Bank was also rather active but closed the week lower (-1.0%) while there was a good amount of activity in EABL and Equity Bank. Recent CBK data shows banking sector gross loans rising to KES 1.59tn for period ended November 2013. Consumer staples, Tiger Brands- listed at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange has acquired Rafiki Mills and MagicOven Bakery. This will give it a presence in the local flour milling and bread baking business.

Zimbabwe:

It was a mixed bag in Harare as the Industrial Index managed to gain 1.47% while the Mining Index came under some serious pressure and fell 8.34%. The move higher can largely be attributed to the market heavy weights as the likes of Econet (+5.0%) and Delta (+2.89%) managed to close the week stronger. As foreign interest drove Econet and Delta higher (on good volume) these two names also accounted for 76% of turnover with a number of large crosses taking place throughout the course of the week. There were also very good gains in BAT (+6.67%) and NatFoods (+5.0%).

Mauritius:

Banking giants MCB (57%) and SBM (26%) completely dominated proceedings as foreigners were heavily involved in both counters as value traded amounted to a rather impressive $10m. Another positive note was the fact that the Semdex (+1.13% w/w) closed at an all-time record high of 2,134.25. The move higher was driven by MCB which also closed at an all-time high of Rs216.25 while hotel stocks also pushed the market higher.