Mbabane– Nkonyeni Precast Limited ends 2024 financial year with a whopping and positive 20% growth.
ESE stands for Eswatini Stock Exchange. The information is contained in the Eswatini Stock Exchange (ESE) Annual Report ending March 2024.
“Swaprop share price dropped from E7.90 in March 2023 to E7.50 in March 2024 due to market forces. NPC Limited initial public offering was E 1.00 in November 2023 but it closed the financial year strongly at E 1.40 per share, which was the highest price change for the year at 20%,” reads the Annual Report.
The Annual Report noted that in the financial year ending March 2024 that there was no price fluctuation for Royal Eswatini Sugar Corporation (RES), FNB Eswatini during the period under review.
The lack of activity in these counters is partially due to their holdings being dominated by institutional investors.
The report notes that ESE reported a market capitalization of $ 0.35 billion (E 6.3 billion) for the financial year under review, positioning it as one of the smaller exchanges in the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
The FSRA Chief Executive Officer, Ncamiso Ntshalintshali asserted that the lack of liquidity has been exacerbated by limited public participation and the dominance of institutional investors holding the majority of shares.
“Despite a series of developments aimed at boosting growth, the exchange continues to face significant liquidity challenges, limiting trading activity,” Ntshalintshali stated.
The CEO noted with understanding that among the nine listed companies, only seven saw any trading activity during the financial year, including FNB Eswatini and RES who remain dormant in terms of trading.
The ESE attributed the low liquidity to several factors, including the traditional reliance on manual trading methods, which were only recently replaced by the Automated Trading Systems (ATS). While the ATS is expected to improve efficiency and transparency in the long run, it has not yielded the anticipated boost in trading volumes.
In response to the ongoing challenges, the ESE is intensifying efforts to attract new listings, particularly from the local business sector and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
Furthermore, the organization is engaging with foreign companies and regional exchange in a bid too encourage cross-border listings, which could help increase liquidity and market participation.
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