The bond market declined by about 52.50 percent year-on-year in market turnover in the month of February 2023.

According to the Ghana Stock Exchange’s Summary of February 2023 Market Activities, the month closed with a total volume trade of 9.17 billion. This however represented a decline of 9.48 percent compared to the total volume traded in January 2023.

However, the stock market performed better in February 2023, compared to January 2023. According to the GSE, the GSE Composite Index did well in February 2023 to recover some of the losses recorded earlier in the year.

Both the Composite and Financial Stock indices recorded negative returns of 1.47 percent and 5.17 percent respectively.

This was driven by some of the listed companies posting strong financials and the conclusion of activities surrounding the Domestic Debt Exchange programme.

That notwithstanding, market activities picked up significantly when compared to the previous month.

Top Price Gainers

The top price gainers for the month were Unilever (19.60%), TOTAL (12.56%), MTNGH (12.20%) and BOPP (9.66%).

Unilever Ghana Limited (UNIL) ended the month (Tuesday, February 28, 2023) at GHS2.99 per share on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE). Unilever began the year with a share price of GHS 3.88 but has since lost 22.9% off that price valuation, ranking it 36th on the GSE in terms of year-to-date performance. However, shareholders’ fears may be allayed by the 45% increase of UNIL share price since February 7th, which is best on GSE.

Unilever Ghana is the 10th most traded stock on the Ghana Stock Exchange over the past three months (Dec 5, 2022 – Mar 8, 2023). UNIL has traded a total volume of 165,294 shares valued at GHS 374,732 over the period, with an average of 2,624 traded shares per session. A volume high of 68,086 was achieved on February 6 for the same period.

Unilever Ghana Limited is currently the 21st most valuable stock on the GSE with a market capitalization of GHS 187 million, which makes about 0.292% of the Ghana Stock Exchange equity market.

TotalEnergies Marketing Ghana was another blue chip stock that aided February’s gain.

TotalEnergies began the year with a share price of GHS4.00 and has since gained 37.5% on that price valuation, ranking it first on the GSE in terms of year-to-date performance.

TotalEnergies Marketing Ghana is the ninth most traded stock on the Ghana Stock Exchange over the past three months (Dec 5, 2022 – Mar 8, 2023). TOTAL has traded a total volume of 325,146 shares valued at GHS 1.31 million over the period, with an average of 5,161 traded shares per session. A volume high of 229,575 was achieved on December 23, 2023 for the same period.

MTN began the year with a share price of GHS0.88 and was one of the best performers in February, ranking it third on the GSE in terms of year-to-date performance.

MTN Ghana is the number one most traded stock on the Ghana Stock Exchange over the past three months (Dec 5, 2022 – Mar 8, 2023). MTNGH has traded a total volume of 26.1 million shares valued at GHS 23 million over the period, with an average of 414,286 traded shares per session. A volume high of 13.1 million was achieved on December 23, 2022 for the same period.

The final gainer for the month of February was Oil Palm Plantation Limited (BOPP). Benso Oil Palm Plantation began the year with a share price of GHS7.65 and has since gained 26.1% on that price valuation, ranking it second on the GSE in terms of year-to-date performance.

Benso Oil Palm Plantation Limited is currently the 18th most valuable stock on the GSE with a market capitalization of GHS 336 million, which is about 0.524% of the Ghana Stock Exchange equity market.