Published: 27 August 2013

A string of holidays meant that we have been unable to constantly trade for two consecutive weeks without breaks. Unlike a fortnight ago the just ended week saw volumes suffering due to reduced trading days save for a single day when trade value was northwards of $4.5m.

Weekly value trade came in at $8.9, 57% lower than last week at $20.5m while volumes were down 70% to close the week at 38.2m. Overall, the industrial index lost 2.2% as sentiment remains bearish in the aftermath of a whitewash by Zanu-PF in the just ended election results.

We expect this sluggish trading to bottom-out after the announcement of cabinet ministers early to mid September.

The June reporting seasons started earnestly last week with results largely being mixed owing to the fluid operating environment. Some companies reported improved numbers like FBCH and RTG but some not so well such as Turnall and ZB (profits driven by fair value adjustment).

We expect the full repertoire of companies with the June reporting season to report in the coming weeks and our opinion remains muted due to the tight liquidity in the first half of the year.

We continue to reiterate that investors take a contrarian strategy by taking advantage of the selling pressure to buy sound well managed companies with good fundamentals and stocks such as Delta, Econet, Seed Co, Ok Zimbabwe, Dairibord, and Innscor quickly come to mind.  
- Imara Edwards Securities

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