Financial institutions performance on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) was generally poor for the first half of 2020 as against their performance in the same period in 2019.
Currently, 12 financial sector companies are listed on the local bourse, consisting of 10 banks and 2 insurance companies.
The GSE Financial Stocks Index (GSE-FSI), which reflects the average performance of shares of listed financial companies, witnessed a significant drop of about 15 per cent from January to August 17, 2020.
Out of the 12 financial sector stocks on the local bourse as of June 2020, 10 of them had declined in their valuation. One out of the remaining two experienced no change with the other being the only stock appreciated.
When compared to the first half of 2019, only 8 stocks declined in their valuation, one remained unchanged, while 3 appreciated.
From January to June this year, companies like GCB Bank, Republic Bank and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated witnessed a drop in their share prices to the tune of 33, 28 and 25 per cent respectively on the stock market.
The three other companies also saw a total of 200, 5,000 and 21,700 of their shares bought and sold respectively.
In the case of the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), it remained unchanged opening the year at GHS5.06 pesewas per share and staying the same as of June 30, 2020.
SIC Insurance however appreciated by 25 per cent over the same period, opening the year at 8 pesewas per share and ending the month of June at 10 pesewas.
The poor performance of the financial stocks has been generally attributed to a combination of poor public sentiments, the fallouts from the banking sector reforms, and not forgetting the negative impact caused as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country.
