Investors shun CEC shares despite dominating market turnover

According to the Stockbrockers Zambia – Zambia’s leading securities firm report for the market period ended 16 October, Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC) recorded a share price drop of 1.2% on the Lusaka Securities Exchange (LuSE).

The report, seen by the Zambian Business Times (ZBT), shows that CEC’s share price settled at K15.1 per share after recording the 1.2% decline.

A further check by ZBT indicates that, despite the negative performance in its share price, the stock remained the largest contributor to turnover on the LuSE, accounting for 46.4% of the total market turnover of K2.2 million.

Stockbrockers Zambia Senior Trader Bwalya Mwape attributed CEC’s continued share price decline to investors seeking to maximize gains from earlier price increases by selling at higher prices.

Speaking in an interview with ZBT, Mwape noted that CEC’s weaker market performance in terms of share price was driven more by the company having more sellers than buyers, which contributes to the price drop.

“CEC declared dividends, but the share price recorded a decline; this is not mostly driven by performance. Rather, it is driven by many investors selling their shares for better value, triggered by market forces,” Mwape told ZBT.

Efforts to get a direct comment from CEC on why their stocks are shading value proved futile as the company requested for a press query