The stock market has endured a miserable year, with its poorest performance since dolllarisation. But in the gloom there has been some shining lights. Here are the top five performing stocks of the year so far and a brief synopsis of their financial performance in latest published results.
1. ART CORPORATION
ART is the top gainer in the year thus far with 200 percent increase year-to-date. ART is the holding company of battery manufacturer Chloride, ballpoint pen maker Eversharp and Softex which manufactures tissue products.
As the group focused on manufacturing ART has seen capacity utilization increase following a government ban on imports. The company reported that its Chloride battery making plant is now working at full capacity. It has even gone on to install a new plant at a cost of $3 million which will increase production capacity by another 50 percent.
Before the investment, the factory was producing 240 000 batteries per annum but the new plant will push production to 360 000 batteries per annum.
The current market size for batteries is estimated at 300 000 and Chloride plans to export the excess to regional markets such as Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique.
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