Business News of Thursday, 18 September 1997

Source: --

At The Stock Exchange

Accra, (Greater Accra) 15 Sept.,

The Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) All-Share Index chalked its highest gain this year, climbing 13.8 points in active trading today. It closed at 437.50 points, up from the previous 423.70 points. Despite the interest of investors in Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB), Mechanical Lloyd Company (MLC), Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) and Super Paper Products Company (SPPC), total shares exchanging hands fell to 154,720 from Friday's close of 394.120 shares. Total shares on offer of 401,520 trailed demand which stood at 4,302,420. Market capitalization dropped to 2,775.43 billion cedis, down from the previous figure of 2,778.02 billion cedis. On the broader market, three equities made gains with no losses. SCB made a significant gain of 1,275 cedis on its share price to close at 7,100 cedis. Mobil Oil Ghana Limited (MOGL) and Kumasi Brewery Limited (KBL) made 10 cedis each ending at 6,010 cedis and 850 cedis respectively. Meanwhile, GCB has started a programme under which the company will spend a maximum of one billion cedis to re-purchase its own shares. The decision to re-purchase the company's shares was motivated by the Board of Directors belief that the Company's shares are currently undervalued by the market and create an exit for marginal investors. Shares purchased under the programme would be resold or cancelled at any time in future depending on the trends on the stock market.