Equities

Venezuela: Stay on the sidelines on mounting near-term risks. Colombia: Experts warn about risks of fiscal rule non-observance; we reaffirm UW. AES Panama’s EBITDA weakens y-o-y in 3Q23, impacted by a deterioration of its LNG business and lower hydro...

Guinea-Bissau dissolves parliament over attempted coup. Nigeria: State-oil firm set to alter pricing of crude cargoes. Kenya: Apex bank hikes policy rate by 200bps to 12.5%.

Lana Medical to begin trading today on Nomu with the symbol 9587. Almarai acquired Etmam, a provider of logistics services for a value of SAR182mn. Extra and Panda (Savola’s Subsidiary) signed a 10-year commercial alliance.

The NBR announced that the 20% tax imposed on the interest of foreign loans will not be applicable till February 2024. The economic expansion target may be revised down to 6.5% while the inflation target may be revised upward to 7%. Due to the rising...

Plenty of NPLs for AMCs to buy. Unsecured NPL business should recover in 2024. Secured NPL business impacted by tighter loan approval standards.

Illegal pork imports should decline materially in 2024. Thai livestock prices hit nadir in Oct 2023; to recover through 1H24. Much shallower equity loss from CTI expected for 2024.

Raised cement sector FY24f/25f EPS estimates by 84%/76% on lower coal prices and expected monetary easing. TPs up 40%. Cement prices rise despite capacity surge, signaling enduring industry discipline amid axle load implementation. Despite the market...

Currencies: The naira depreciated by 14.27% wow to N927.19/US$. Fixed Income: The secondary NTB and bond traded upbeat as average benchmark yields fell to 10.2% and 15.9%, respectively. Equities: In a bear-bull tussle last week, bullish sentiments wo...

Conflict can shock markets: eg Polish equities fell 45% after Russia invaded Ukraine and took 16 months to recover. US military remains supreme but its willingness to intervene is being tested and technology is helping weaker combatants. But there ar...

Broad index, DSEX, went up by 3.17 points. Turnover decreased by 6.46% to BDT 4.60bn. Engineering sector dominated the turnover chart covering 15.99% of total turnover.

Suriname's eurobond spreads -24bps after IMF staff-level deal; $53mn disbursements pending board approval. Ecuador's eurobonds drop 1.3% amid fiscal concerns; Noboa fast-tracks tax cuts; 5% deficit projection. Lebanon's eurobonds rebounded 1.2% yeste...

Equity indices recorded a mixed trend during the week with the NASI increasing by 0.03% to close the week at 92.27. Equity turnover increased by 125.38% to KES 1.16Bn up from KES 0.52Bn. During the week, foreigners were net sellers recording net outf...

Nigeria: Authorities and Germany agree to accelerate power revamp. Ghana: Power company suspends operation over unpaid debt. Kenya: Equity group CEO believes weakness in the local currency has peaked.

Panama: Cobre Panamá opens “voluntary withdrawal programme” amid still uncertain transition process. Suriname: Authorities request extension and augmentation of IMF’s EFF programme. Moody’s affirms Central American Bottling Corp.’s (CAMEBO) rating at...

SCBK posted a 11.77% y/y climb in after-tax profits (PAT) to KES 9.74Bn in the nine months to September 2023. Net Interest Income surged 34.50% to KES 21.23Bn supported by credit up pricing under the risk-based credit pricing . NPL ratio edged up 62b...

NCBA Group posted an impressive 14.39% y/y jump in PAT to KES 14.65Bn over the nine months to September 2023. The trailing earnings per share (EPS) momentum similarly improved 173bps to KES 9.48 over the quarter. Strong double-digit growth in custome...

Diamond Trust Bank Group posted a modest 5.00% y/y climb in PAT to KES 6.61Bn over the nine months to September 2023. Trailing ROE climbed 197bps y/y to 10.02% while the trailing ROA climbed 11bps y/y to 1.29%. Customer deposits grew 27.26% y/y to KE...

Pick-up in Hajj and Umrah, key growth factor. Online sales to support growth and margins. Increased competition to weigh on margins.

Today, the trading of Riyadh Cement (SAWCEM AB, 3092) in the main market. Jabal Omar received a licensed from the Ministry of Tourism to operate the second tower of the Jabal Omar Address Hotel. Tawzea, one of SISCO investment, signed a contract to o...

Recent results reinforce our positive outlook on banks, estimates and TP raised by 7%/20%. Strong dividend payouts will continue over the next 12mths. Banks still trade cheap. UBL and MCB stand out on D/Y, while HBL and BAFL are the cheapest on P/B.

Bangladesh's export earnings declined for the second consecutive month in November. Inflation decelerated by 44 basis points to 9.49 percent in November. Bangladesh is expected to receive more than $1 billion in budget support from the ADB and the IM...

Pakistan not on agenda of IMF executive Board meeting. Nov oil sales rise 9% MoM. Overbilling in violation of NEPRA Act.

Panama's court rules against copper mine contract; President Cortizo to move towards closing mine. Closure would threaten vital source of export and tax revenues; new deal had secured $375mn income for 20 years. Comes as country faces headwinds of dr...

GFI fell 1.5% m/m (+21.9% y/y), dragged by construction (-5.0%), with machinery and equipment still up (2.7%). Consumption grew 0.8% m/m (4.5% y/y), with both the imported (1.8%) and domestic components (0.8%) positive. In October consumption will li...

Saudi borrowers have sold more bonds or sukuk in 2023 than any other year. The country is aware of not over-saturating the bond market. Issuance from other Gulf sovereigns will remain relatively light.