The 10 counters driving the Zimbabwe stock market bull-run

The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange market capitalisation breached $8.1 billion on Friday as mainly local investors take refuge in assets to escape the chaos in the currency and money markets.

The bull run, which started when government introduced a quasi-currency in the form of bond notes last November, looks set to continue in the foreseeable future.

Here are the Top 10 stocks driving the bull run.

1.DELTA

The beverage maker, Delta is the largest company by market capitalisation on the ZSE, with a market cap of $2.17 billion, it constitutes 26.78 percent of the ZSE total market value.

 In the year to date the company has advanced 96.5 percent to close at 173.92 cents on Friday.

In its latest financial results, the company reported a 10 percent fall in revenue to $483 million in the full year to March 31, compared to $538 million in the previous year as demand remained depressed in the face of falling incomes.

Net profit declined 13 percent to $69.9 million on depressed volumes across its segments.

Its total assets stood at to $411 million from $400 million recorded in the previous year.

The company, which spent $40.5 million in capital expansion compared to $49.4 million in the prior year, has no appetite to undertake any major capex projects in the current financial year.

It declared a special dividend of 1 cent per share and a final dividend of 2.45 cents per share.

The beverage company, however, owes foreign shareholders and foreign creditors $28 million and $20 million respectively as a result of foreign payment delays.

The trading environment will remain subdued as consumer disposable incomes continue to wane coupled with competition from beverage imports that continue to find their way into the country.

Delta is now an associate of Belgian brewer, AB InBev following the later’s acquisition of SABMiller last year

Continued next page

(577 VIEWS)