Investing on the Botswana Stock Exchange, part 3

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Investing on the Botswana Stock Exchange, part 1

A brief introduction to the exchang...

Investing on the Botswana Stock Exchange, part 2

How to buy shares.

BSE's best and worst performers.

GABORONE - Following on the previous article on how to invest on the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) we will now be looking at the past performance of the Botswana bourse.

As the world economy shows signs of stabilisation, the BSE is a step ahead with significant gains and is attracting investors. According to Gary Juma of Motswedi Securities, small capitalised counter, RPC Data and mid-capitalised counters RDCP, Imara, G4S, FSG, Letshego and Sefalana made major gains during the past month of October as investors appetite for stocks increased.

To get a synopsis of the market performance, we will look at the best and worst performers on the bourse for the month of October.

In October, leading the pack of gainers was Discovery Metals, which was up 35% to P2.70. This was due in part to the company announcing it had raised AUD13.1m for the completion of the bankable feasibility study at the Boseto copper project in Botswana and for on going corporate costs. In second place was Anglo American which surged 21.4%, followed by property developer RDCP which closed the month 11.1% higher.

Commenting on RDCP performance, Juma said investors were excited about the Masa Centre which the property developer is developing in Botswana. "The Masa Centre is expected to be a jewel in the group's property portfolio and the first mixed use development in Botswana. It has attracted international retail brands that will delight trendsetters with a love for style and glamour," said Juma.

Following RDCP was Barclays bank which was up 10% to P6.60, Letshego 9.65% to P13.70, RPC Data 9.4% to P4.00, Imara 9.1% to P6.00 and FSG 7.6% to P1.42.

Worst performers for the month of October were led by Australia's energy company, Aviva which was down 30.8%. Motswedi Securities said this was due to the negative investor sentiment after the company said it had lost the tender to supply power for a new 400MW power project at Coolimba in Australia which was planned to be commissioned in 2014/15.

Following Aviva was tourism operator, Chobe which declined by 20% in October to close at P2.00. Chobe has been hit hard by the global downturn as fewer tourists are visiting the world renowned Okavango Delta, where it has its operations.

Below are the top and worst performers for the month of October:

Counter	30 Oct 09	29 Sept 09	Change (%)	YTD (%)
DISCOVERY	270	200	+35.0	+255.3
ANGLO	22,516	18,553	+21.4	+25.2
RDCP	400	360	+11.1	+14.3
BARCLAYS	660	600	+10.0	+4.8
LETSHEGO	1,370	1,250	+9.6	+7.5
RPC DATA	35	32	+9.4	-30.0
IMARA	600	550	+9.1	-34.8
FSG	142	132	+7.6	+29.1
BIHL	835	790	+5.7	-4.0
SEFALANA	305	290	+5.2	+1.7
A-CAP	263	250	+5.2	+415.7
G4S	2,300	2,190	+5.0	+5.7
PRIMETIME	143	140	+2.1	+2.1
SEFCASH	1,405	1,383	+1.6	-4.7
AVIVA¯	54	78	-30.8	-14.3
CHOBE¯	200	250	-20.0	-35.5
AF DIAMONDS¯	310	350	-11.4	-22.5
IAMGOLD¯	8,055	8,679	-7.2	+90.5
TURNSTAR¯	135	145	-6.9	-2.2
ENGEN¯	360	385	-6.5	-18.2
AF COPPER¯	80	85	-5.9	+300.0
FNBB¯	270	280	-3.6	+35.0
STANCHART¯	1,600	1,620	-1.2	-11.1

Source: Motswedi Securities

Based on the above performance, the Domestic Company Index, DCI closed the month 1.55% higher at 7 011.16 points according to the BSE. The DCI is composed of local listed companies.

Data from the BSE show that the Foreign Company Index (FCI) made some impressive gains to close the month 2.17% higher to 1 178.31 points. The FCI is composed of foreign listed companies.

A latest update of the Botswana bourse performance will follow this article.

Write to John Chombah: johnc@moneyweb.co.za