The Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE)’s flagship platform, the Domestic Companies Index (DCI) closed May having risen 4.1 percent since the beginning of the year, a strong performance by most listed companies that also hints at recovery in the general economy.
Statistics from Stockbrokers Botswana indicate that in the first five months of the year, the charge was led by Standard Chartered whose share price rose 41.1% during the period, followed by Chobe Holdings, Absa, and Cresta.
Standard Chartered has enjoyed a rosy period on the DCI, ticking up by more than 10 thebe on two separate days in the first five months of the year. The bank posted a threefold increase in pre-tax profits for the year to December 2022, recording P253.1 million.
Chobe Holdings, meanwhile, recorded pretax profits of P136 million for the year ended February 2023, from losses of P52 million the previous year, as the tourism sector recovered from the pandemic.
The group declared a 60 thebe dividend for the year, one of the highest by a DCI counter.
On the other end of the scale, Letshego Holdings and Letlole La Rona suffered the biggest losses in their share prices in the first five months of the year, shedding 12% and 10.9% respectively. Both counters have been dogged by management issues that have turned investors off their allure.
