Stock: Top performers in 2023

Joseph Lamptey, Accra, Ghana
January 10, 2024

A fter three years of economic turbulence (2020-2023), five companies of Composite Index (CI) of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) emerged as best performers among the listed constituents of the exchange in 2023. According to the GSE, the top gainers for 2023, were BOPP with 187.58 percent, TotalEnergies, which gained 127.00 percent and Unilever with 109.02 percent. Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited and MTN closed the list with 65.85 percent and 59.09 percent. New Economy Ghana goes behind the headlines to decipher the reasons behind the resilience and performance of these five companies.

When inflation spiked began to rise at the end of fiscal years 2021, reaching a historical rate of 54.1 percent in December 2022, imported consumer products, such as cooking oil, became unaffordable for households in Ghana. Benso Oil Palm Plantation Ltd was the company that filled the gap with domestic products as import shrank. The company produces and processes cooking oil from a vast palm oil plantations in the South West of Ghana. It also produces soaps and supplies manufacturing companies with raw palm oil. Since 2021, the company has regained market share as sales increased by 58.9 percent, pushing the price up and making the company a top performer on the GSE.

The company is based at the Adum Banso Estate in the Western Region of Ghana. Founded in 1978, the company listed on the Ghana Stock exchange GSE in 2004. BOPP is a subsidiary of Wilmar Africa Limited, a company incorporated in Ghana, which is a part of Wilmar International Limited, a company incorporated in Singapore.

Total Energies

Total Energy Ghana has shown resilience in the downstream petroleum sector between 2020 and 2023. During this period, the company faced disruptions in international supply, rising oil prices and a depreciation of the Cedi coupled with forex risks. Despite this deleterious environment, the company closed the year 2022 with an increase of revenue of 76 percent and profit after tax of 43 percent. The financial market responded rewarded this performance. Total attributes this performance to improvements in internal processes, especially treasury operations, integrated risk control and to a diversification of the sources of oil and gas supply.

TotalEnergies Marketing Ghana PLC is a subsidiary of French multinational oil-gas and energy company TotalEnergies. The parent company TotalEnergies is a member of the Paris Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the CAC 40 Index.

In Ghana, the company is active in the downstream segment with a network of 263 retail petrol stations. Each retail has a Bonjour Restaurant, a service bay, a wash center, and a repair service. The company sells aviation fuel, road construction bitumen, specific energy systems for mining industries and manufacturing companies.

The principal activity of the group is the marketing and sale of petroleum products and renewable energy. However, over the past decade, TotalEnergies has diversified its business. Subsidiaries and associate subsidiaries in Ghana include Ghanstock Limited Company (55 percent shareholding), and Road Safety Limited Company (BSLC) (50 percent shareholding).

Unilever

Unilever Ghana Plc manufactures and sells fast moving consumer goods. The company owns popular brands of home care, personal care, and foods products. In March 2023, the company reported an increase in revenue of 60.7 percent (Year-on-Year). Unilever Ghana reported that ‟turnover leverage, coupled with judicious pricing and cost controls”¹ contributed to an improvement in gross margin. The market rewarded the performance with an increase in the value of share prices.

The parent company of Unilever Ghana is Unilever Plc, a company incorporated in the United Kingdom, which is a listed member of the London Stock Exchange. The parent company control 74.5 percent of Unilever Ghana PLC, through two subsidiaries: Unilever Overseas Holding Limited and UAC International Limited. Unilever Ghana Plc has a diversified portfolio of businesses in Ghana. Its local subsidiaries include United Africa Trust Limited, Swanzy Real Estate, Unilever Ghana Investment Limited and Miller Swanzy (Ghana) Limited.

Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited (GGBL)

Guinness Ghana Breweries Ltd produces, distributes, and sells alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and spirits. In Ghana, brands include Baileys, Guinness, Johnny Walker, Malta Guinness, Orijin, Smirnoff, and Top Malt drinks. Despite high inflation, high input costs, and depreciation of the Cedi and FX risks, the company grew revenue by 36 percent and profit by over 600 percent (Annual report and financial statements 2023). Between 2022 and 2023, the company generated positive cash flow, realizing a turnaround from a negative cash flow in 2022.

GGBL is a subsidiary of Diageo Holdings Netherlands B.V., a company incorporated in the Netherlands. The parent company is Diageo Plc, a company incorporated in the United Kingdom.

MTN

MTN Ghana is a subsidiary of Scancom Plc. The company operates mobile telecommunication services. It offers voice, data, and digital services to individual and corporate customers. Despite high inflation, high operational and FX costs, the company recovered and post revenue growth of 36.1 percent (end of September 2023). Voice (+14.5 percent), data (+47.6 percent) and mobile money (+51.6 percent) were the engine of this performance. Profit after tax for the period grew by 32.0 percent (September 2023).

Two shareholders (Tele 2 Nornett A/S, a Norwegian company, and Scan Construction Limited, a Ghanaian company) incorporated the company on April 14th, 1994. In 2006, the MTN Group bought Investcom Consortium and changed the company’s trade name from ‟Areeba” to ‟MTN Ghana”. MTN Ghana operates an extensive and diversified communication network in Ghana, reaching the country’s 16 regions, major cities, and rural areas. It has concluded roaming partnerships with three mobile phone companies in Ghana. The number of subscribers grew from 2.5 million in 2006 to 25.8 million at the end of 2023.

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