Friday, 3rd January 2013 | PZ Cussons recorded gains of 339 percent for 2013 on the Ghana Stock Exchange in a year when the stock market racked up gains of 78.66 percent.
PZ Cussons is a manufacturing and distribution company of soaps and electricals. PZ Cussons was followed by Enterprise Group, a business development and management consultancy company; Cal Bank came next with 155 percent and Mechanical Lloyd, agents for the sale and servicing of BMW cars and motor cycles, Ford vehicles, Massey Ferguson agricultural machinery and Delphi products, was close behind with 153 percent.
For the year ended December 2013, the indices closed at 2,145.20 for the GES composite and 1786.60 for the financials. For the year, 20 stocks recorded gains and 8 declined with no price change for 9 stocks. The gains range from a low of 14 percent to a high of 339 percent with 9 stocks gaining more than 100 percent and 6 between 50 and 87 percent.
The market started 2014 in a positive note with the two indices recording gains at the close on Friday, January 3. Total volume for week amounted to 1,488,967 units as GSE Composite Index closed the week at 2,152.54 for a gain of 9.75 points and the financial index closed at 1,801.42 for a gain of 17.67 points or 0.99 percent for the week. For the week, 6 stocks gained against 3 that recorded losses. CAL Bank gained 2 percent, Ecobank Transnational Incorporation gained 5 percent, UT Bank gained 2 percent and Total Petroleum loss 3 percent.
Banks dominant | The market performance was dominated by the banking sector with banks increasing loans at a fast pace thus boosting profit and stock prices at a very strong pace. The Ghanian economy continues to benefit from an excellent growth rate flowing from increased investment in the variety of commodities the country processes. Ghana’s economy grew by 7.9 percent in 2012 and is projected to grow 7 percent as reported by the International Monetary Fund in the latter part of 2013,
Towards the end of the year, the stock market was reflecting bearish symptoms with bids in for only a third of the stocks listed in December. This continues to be the case but with 17 stocks with bids at the end of the week and 19 with offers. There may be pull back in the prices of some of the stocks, especially so with several companies reporting losses or reduced profits. However, the banks seem poised to continue to generate hefty gains in 2014 with strong growth continuing in the economy, which should lead to continued demand for loans and propel the stock market to another robust performance for the year.
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