Cedi Depreciation Bites Ghana Stock Exchange

The incessant depreciation of the cedi has started biting the Ghana Stock Exchange as it caused the local bourse to fall behind its peers on the continent in the first 9 months of the year.

According to the data, the Ghana Stock Exchange placed 9th in dollar terms among 15 stock markets in Africa ending September 2023. It recorded 0.22% returns in the nine months of 2023 for investors.

In cedi terms, the Accra Bourse dropped one place by placing 4th. It recorded a 29.8% return for investors in the first 9 months after coming third in the first half of the year.

This is coming on the back of the International Monetary Fund programme. According to data, the non-banking stocks led the gains in the equity market. They include BOPP (143.53%), TotalEnergies PLC (125%), Unilever (108.76%) and MTN Ghana (64.7%). Their share prices are estimated 18.63, 9.00, 8.10 and 1.45 respectively.

In all, nine stocks recorded gains as compared to eight losers. The biggest losers were Enterprise Ghana (-24.69%), Access Bank Ghana (-22.69%) and SIC Insurance (-22.58%).

The Market Capitalization also shot up to GH¢74.89 billion in September 2023 from GH¢70.24 billion recorded in June 30, 2023.

The Financial Stock Index, however, lost 7.91% in value in the nine months of 2023. This was primarily due to the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme which impacted their balance sheets.

Meanwhile, Malawi MASI placed 1st in Africa with a year-to-date of 77.03%. It was followed by Morocco MASI in 2nd position with an annual return of 10.95% and Egypt EGX 30 in 3rd position with a year-to-date of 10.62%. In 4th and 5th positions are Zambia LUSE (8.75%) and Botswana DSE (5.03%), in that order.

Meanwhile, the GSE has two categories of listing, namely, the main board and the Ghana Alternative Market (GAX). The GAX, operated as a parallel market since 2015, is aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises with strong growth potential.

Current Performance of GSE

After starting the week strongly, the local bourse reneged in its performance last Thursday. At the end of the trading session on the Ghana Stock Exchange, a total of 290,999 shares, corresponding to a market value of GHS 360,620.30, were traded.

Compared with the previous GSE trading day (Wednesday, October 4), the data showed 76% decline in volume and 86% decline in turnover.

In total, 15 GSE listed equities participated in trading, ending with only one gainer, namely CAL Bank, with 6.38% share price appreciation.

CAL closed its trading day at GHS0.50 per share on the Ghana Stock Exchange, recording a 6.4% gain over its previous closing price of GHS0.47. CAL began the year with a share price of GHS0.65 but has since lost 23.1% off that price valuation, ranking it 36th on the GSE in terms of year-to-date performance. Shareholders’ worries are compounded by the fact that CAL has lost 17% of the stock’s value from September 6 to date.

Currently, GSE Composite Index (GSE-CI) stands at 3,137.03 points with an overall year-to-date gain of 28.36%, while the GSE Financial Stocks Index (GSE-FSI) also stands at 1,938.33 points, with a year-to-date loss of 5.57%.