DSE facing tough times as foreign investors stay away

A trader looks at his screen in the trading room of the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange in Tanzania. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

In Summary

• Share prices at most counters have dropped due to low participation as fears of Covid-19 pandemic spread hit global markets, as well as the fall in oil prices.

By BEATRICE MATERU
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The Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange is facing tough times as the All Share Index dropped by almost 16 per cent in the past month, total turnover was Tsh5 million ($2,500), prices per share fell for listed
firms, and there was little foreign participation.

By close of business on Wednesday, the DSE had recorded a total turnover of Tsh5.83 million ($2,521.41) from 5,005 shares traded in 10 deals.

“This was expected. With the global Covid-19 pandemic going on and low participation of foreign investors in the market, the drop on share prices was likely to happen,” said Juventus Simon, the executive director of Orbit Securities Ltd.

In recent weeks, global equity markets have experienced the worst performance in recent history. According to economists, the poor performance is due to the impact of the pandemic and the significant drop of international stock markets and oil prices.

“People are being careful about where to currently invest, what shares to sell and buy, which involve less risk,” said Mr Simon.

Chief executive of the DSE Moreni Marwa said that in a market where capital appreciation is less certain, income becomes more important.

“Investors are naturally drawn to the reliability of dividend income, which can serve to minimise stock price declines,” he said.

DSE ended Wednesday with no record of total turnover from shares sold by foreign investors.

Tanzania Portland Cement Company Ltd (TPCC), CRDB Bank, the Bourse DSE and Vodacom Tanzania have continued to maintain their status as DSE’s top counters.

Lead counter CRDB Bank, had 1,630 shares traded in four deals, at a weighted average price of $0.060 (Tsh140) per share, down from $0.077 (Tsh180) in the previous session.

The DSE counter had 860 shares traded at a weighted average price of $0.38 (Tsh890) per share in two deals.

The TPCC counter had 2,200 shares traded at a weighted average price of Tsh2,080 ($0.89) per share in two deals. One share of TPCC traded at about Tsh2,200 ($0.095) on February 25.

The Vodacom counter had 315 shares traded at a weighted average price of Tsh810 ($0.35) per share in two deals, down from Tsh850 ($0.37) in February.

The All Share Index (DSEI) closed at 1,748.64 points, 15.9 per cent down as compared with 2,079.14 points recorded on February 25.

The slowdown on DSEI was the result of a drop in share price among cross-listed companies.

The DSE market report shows that Kenya Airways dropped by 14.29 per cent to $0.01 (Tsh 30) from $ 0.02 (Tsh35) per share, and the Jubilee Holdings Ltd share price fell by 8.47 per cent to $2.33(Tsh 5,400) from $ 2.55 (Tsh 5,900).

East African Breweries Ltd share price dropped by 5.39 per cent to $1.36 (Tsh3,160) on Wednesday, from 1.44 (Tsh3,340) on March 24. KCB share price fell by 12.75 per cent, from $0.44 (Tsh1,020) to $ 0.38 (Tsh890) per share.
Nation Media Group also saw its share price fall by 3.70 per cent, from $0.23 (Tsh540) to $ 0.22 (Tsh520) on March 25.