The local market was quiet this week, with the NSX Local index down 1.56% at 537, and the NSX Overall Index up 2.65% at 1003. As at 2 June, FirstRand Namibia was the largest local company on the exchange, with market capitalization of N$ 8.7 billion, followed by Namibia Breweries with N$ 7.8 billion, Capricorn Investment Group with N$ 7.2 billion, and Standard Bank Namibia with N$ 4.4 billion. Agra Ltd lead the market this week with growth of 1.64% to close at N$1.64 per share. In terms of volume Namibia Breweries lead the market with N$ 927 thousand worth of shares traded, with FirstRand Namibia and Capricorn Investment Group in second place with N$ 198 thousand worth of shares traded. The local currency gained 1.99% against the US Dollar, to close at N$ 17.16 per USD, and gained 0.23% against the British Pound, to close at N$ 21.54 per GBP. It closed at N$ 19.19 against the Euro, a gain of 0.18%.
Letshego Namibia released its audited annual financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2019, and revealed that while its net interest income increased by 2.16% to N$ 579.3 million, its operating profit declined by 5.2% to N$ 597.6 million. As a result, it saw a 3.8% decline in profit for the year to N$ 451.1 million. As such, its basic and headline earnings per share declined by 3.8% from 93.8c per share to 90.2c per share. Letshego noted that it cannot make an estimate of the impact of COVID-19 on its business due to uncertainties regarding the length of the pandemic, as well as its effect on the local economy. However, they do not expect major adverse effects of its advances portfolio as the majority of its clients are employed by government, and are not expected to lose their employment.