The Valentine’s Day fever which was expected to cloud most investors did not result in a rise of share prices of many stocks during the Botswana Stock Exchange trading week that ended this past Friday.
Figures coming from the capital markets show that the Domestic Companies Index (DCI) recorded a second straight week of losses as profit takers invaded the market frequently.
By close of business on Friday, the BSE data showed that the domestic board which consist of over 20 counters recorded a drop in turnover from P44.88 billion to P44.87 billion.
This is just about 1 percent of the DCI market cap in just a week reflecting the robust selling off of shares.
The BSE weekly trade data shows that its two largest counters by market capitalisation, FNBB and Letshego were on the main front with 12.6 percent and 11.9 percent respectively.
At the same time, one of the most active stocks, Choppies shed five thebe to close the session at 400 thebe as investors lock in their profits following the recent uptrend of the stock.
The stock of the country’s second largest bank, Barclays plunged by a huge 29 thebe. Financial analysts believe that the poor performance is due to some investors who remain concerned following the announcement of poor full year results by the bank at the beginning of this week. Available figures show that so far, the bank’s share price has lost almost 11 percent for the year thus far to 490 thebe, its 52 week low.
Another big local company that ended the week in the red zone is BIHL which shed 10thebe to close at its 12 month low of 1055thebe. The insurance giant recently released a trading statement announcing that its results for the year ended 31 December 2013 will be significantly higher than those reported the previous financial year.
According to the statement which was circulated this week, BIHL’s higher profits are attributable to ‘the good operating and investment environment.’
Still this week, Sechaba which is trading under cautionary closed the week at 2050 thebe per share after retreating by one thebe. The brewery giant is reported to be seriously considering pulling out of the local capital market, a strategic move that some financial commentators’ links to the tough regulatory environment that the government has subjected the company to over the years.
The company which manufacturer popular brands such as Chibuku and St. Louis lager have a market cap of 2,529,942,923.
Meanwhile on the whole, the stock exchange reports that during this week about 4.7 million shares, worth of P17.7 million exchanged hands.
