Malawi Stock Exchange (MSE) registered 29.8 percent return in January 2025, in one of the market’s strongest starts of the year although different sectors varied in terms of performance.
Daily market updates indicate the Malawi All Share Index gained 29.89 percent between 31 December and 31 January, moving from 172 039.93 to 223 474.92 points on accou8nt of soaring share prices of listed banks.
For instance, NBS Bank plc, FDH Bank plc and National Bank of Malawi plc registered share price surges of 100 percent, 85 percent and 73 percent to K349.33, K274.52 and K5998.87 per share, respectively.
“Really the Bank’s share price has gone up in the past few weeks. When share value increases, it shows the trust that investors have with the company, it means the company is more attractive to investors who are eager to be part of the company,” said National Bank of Malawi plc board chairperson Jimmy Lipunga.
However, despite the banking sector strides dictating the direction of the market in January, other industries like telecommunications and property sectors continued to struggle with both TNM plc and Airtel Malawi plc shares dipping significantly.
For instance, the former lost 25 percent during the month as it traded at K19.98 on 31 January 2025 while Airtel share value fell 7 percent from K90 to 84.08 per share.
In an interview, stock market investor Joe Maere described the overall performance as great while describing property and tourism sectors as mild and telecommunications sector as unfortunate.
“Overall performance is good as capital gains by banks have been heavily outrunning capital loss by telecommunications companies. Telecommunications companies will remain volatile due to forex shortage.
“Going forward, government borrowing will continue to give high reward to banks profitability and shareholdings and new Investments will retain confidence of investors in a country affected by forex shortage,” Maere said.
In a separate interview, equity investment analyst Kondwani Makwakwa said the existing strong demand for shares especially in the banking sector coupled with scarcity of willing sellers resulted in soaring share values.
Makwakwa said: “In January, we observed strong demand for stocks, particularly in the banking sector, driven by anticipated strong performance. Limited supply has further contributed to this excess demand, pushing prices upward.”
Looking ahead, Makwakwa expects the market to remain promising buoyed by the imminent release of 2024 financial results which could translate into favorable dividend payouts.
