Foreign investors dominate sales on ZSE

FOREIGN investors were net sellers of $22,4 million shares on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) in October, according to figures released by the local bourse.
Foreign purchases accounted for $44,6 million shares during the month under review while sales amounted to $67 million.
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe (Econet) dominated the net sellers with shares worth $13,6 million, followed by Delta which accounted for $5,9 million, Dairibord $2 million, Innscor $1,2 million and Hippo Valley $1 million.
Econet is turning into a conglomerate as its sources of income through innovative technology provision continue to grow.
Analysts forecast that the group’s banking subsidiary and dominant market share in mobile transaction services will ensure significant earnings growth whilst its mobile communication business is expected to maintain its profitability whilst offering overhead cost containment advantages.
Econet last week announced $600 million in half-year revenue to August 31, 2018, up from $353 million in the same period last year, on the back of a strong performance by its ’SmarTech’ business unit.
The conglomerate, which is well on its way to becoming the country’s first listed billion-dollar revenue business, posted a $122 million profit after tax in the same period, a 265 percent jump from the $49 million reported in the same period last year.
The blue-chip company’s 70 percent increase in overall venue was boosted by its $248 million SmarTech revenue growth, which jumped by 145 percent from $101 million in the same period last year.
Mobile Network Operator’s (MNO) revenue from data, voice and SMS grew by 40 percent to $353 million, up from $252 million in results that management credited to its telecom, media and technology model, and that it ascribed to the company’s ability to sweat all its assets – both MNO and SmartTech.
This was borne out by the fact that Econet’s traditional telco products bucked the industry trend and all showed double digit growth, with data revenue contribution growing by 57 percent to $98,3 million, and the voice and SMS revenue going up by 34 percent to $218 m