DSE market value up after new bank listing

DAILY NEWS Reporter

 

DAR ES SALAAM Stock Exchange market value surged by 30.92bn/- to 20.78tri/- after listing of the Mwalimu Commercial Bank last Friday. The bank which is supported by Tanzania Teachers’ Union listed at the Dar bourse after a successful Initial Public Offer (IPO) which was oversubscribed by 24 per cent.

The listing marked another major milestone for the bourse with significant increase in market value that is expected to stimulate trading. Mwalimu Commercial Bank PLC (MCB) becomes the fourth company to be listed on its Enterprise Growth Market Segment (EGM) and becomes the fifteenth Tanzanian company and the twenty second company overall to be listed at the Exchange.

In Friday trading session, DSE recorded a total turnover of 33,049.16 million shillings from 2,388,635 shares traded in 83 deals compared to the previous session which recorded a turnover of 65.42 million shillings from 93,980 shares traded in 78 deals.

Prime Minister Majaliwa Kassim Majaliwa who officiated at the listing, challenged the bank to set strategies that will enhance its growth and touch people from all walks of life countrywide. He said teachers and other investors should use the opportunity to buy shares from the bank, to boost the sector that is still not well tapped.

“Investors from all sectors should cling with the government’s commitment towards supporting the growth of the bank through buying the shares,” said Mr Majaliwa. The DSE Chief Executive Officer, Mr Moremi Marwa, said with the coming in of the new bank in the market, market capitalization, has increased by 30.92bn/-, to 20.78tri/-.

He said the number of companies in stock of exchange had now reached 22, of which 15 local companies accounted for 9.82tri/- of the market capitalization and seven foreign companies contributing to 10.96tri/-.

He was positive that, with the arrival of new player in the market, the DSE was likely to record higher performance in the future, the performance that would be linked to increased number of shareholders.

“I’m optimistic that an addition of the bank, to the market that saw the number of shareholders climbing up from the current 220,000 to 450,000, will lead us to the stage of higher performance,” he said.

The sectors which are yet to be tapped to the optimal level, according to Mr Marwa, include agriculture, infrastructure, Communication, Minerals and tourism.

“If the sectors in question would be well tapped, the economic contribution of the listed local companies whose shares nearly stand at 10tri/-, equals to 14 per cent of Growth Domestic Product (GDP) would go up,” Mr Marwa told shareholders.