Zim bourse welcomes new counter amid trying times

Harare - The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) got a new listing on Friday but that did not stimulate trading on the struggling market.

Simbisa Brands Limited, which runs quick service restaurants in Zimbabwe and 11 other African countries, was unbundled from Innscor Africa Limited on Monday.
 
Simbisa became the 60th active counter on the ZSE, but the listing provided little inspiration to a market that has been characterised by declining turnovers and falling prices.

To highlight the extent of the struggles on the ZSE, Simbisa in one day showed a turnover of $643 253, the highest turnover for the whole week. This represented 27% of the week’s total turnover of $2.3m.

The depressing trend is continuing from the October trend where monthly turnover was at its lowest level since April 2009, a period marking the early days of dollarisation.

By the close of trading in October, the total value of trades at $12.8m was 39.44% lower than the $17.96m invested in September 2015.

Analysts said the downturn on the ZSE shows that investors have developed market fatigue.

The ZSE’s main Industrials index is down 20.48% year-to-date.