The share price of Rwandan beer and soft drinks maker, Bralirwa, has hit a record high of Rwf550 as demand for the stock has surged on expectations of a further rise.
The price has seen the value of shareholders who took up the stock during its initial public offering (IPO) in January last year grow four-fold, rewarding their confidence in the company’s growth plans.
The stock has been on a two-month rally that has been attributed to an improved half-year performance and anticipated growth in the end of year results.
“We believe it is driven by expectations of increased volumes and sales on the basis of a growing middle class in Rwanda,” said Eric Munywoki an analyst with Old Mutual Securities.
Yesterday about 1,000 shares of the brewer changed hands at the stock market, with a demand of 16,100 shares remaining unmet owing to low supplies.
Bralirwa was the first company to list its shares in the Rwandan market after it offered a quarter of the firm’s shares to the public through a regional IPO priced at Rwf136 a piece.
There was a lot of interest especially from the Kenyan market leading to an oversubscription of 174 %.
The brewer reported a 45.3% growth in net profit for the six months to June to record Rwf 7.9 billion that the management attributed to increased turnover.
There are only three companies listed in the Rwandan market, the others being Kenyan firms KCB and NMG.
Leave a Reply