Exclusive, “Akhbar al-Yawm” agency
Increased demand for shares from a number of bank depositors
The figures issued by the Beirut Stock Exchange indicate that the number of shares traded on the stock exchange reached 3.13 million shares in the first two months of 2024, a decrease of 87.7% from the 25.5 million shares traded in the same period of 2023; while the total value of shares traded on the Beirut Stock Exchange reached 167.7 million dollars, an increase of 147.7% from 69.1 million dollars in the first two months of 2023.
In addition, the market value of shares listed on the Beirut Stock Exchange reached 18 billion dollars at the end of February 2024, an increase of 10.2% from 16.3 billion dollars at the end of February 2023, compared to 20.6 billion dollars at the end of January and 20.5 billion dollars at the end of December 2023. Listed real estate companies accounted for 70.2% of the total shares, followed by banks (22.3%) and industrial companies (7.5%). Also, the trading volume amounted to 1,124,048 shares during February 2024, decreased by 43.7% from two million shares traded during January 2024 and increased by 183.8% from 397,775 shares traded during February 2023. The total value of shares traded on the Beirut Stock Exchange reached 65.8 million dollars in February 2024, a decrease of 35.5% from 102 million dollars last month and an increase of 300.2% from 16.4 million dollars in February 2023. The performance of the Beirut Stock Exchange was reported in the weekly economic report of the Byblos Bank Group-Lebanon This Week.
The liquidity ratio in the stock market was 0.9% at the end of February 2024 compared to 0.4% at the end of February 2023. Also, the number of shares of real estate companies traded on the stock exchange accounted for 64.7% of the total trading volume in February 2024, followed by shares of banks (33.7%) and shares of industrial companies (1.6%). Shares of real estate companies accounted for 97% of the total value of traded shares, followed by shares of industrial companies (1.8%) and shares of listed banks (1.3%). The daily trading volume during the first two months of 2024 averaged 76,421 shares with a daily average of 4.1 million dollars. The figures show an 88.6% decrease in the average daily trading volume and a 125% increase in the average daily value during the period under study.
In parallel, Solidere "A" and "B" share prices decreased by 12.8% and 17%, respectively, in the first two months of 2024, while Holcim's share price increased by 0.2% during the period under consideration. Also, Solidere "A" share price increased by 1.7% during January and decreased by 14.2% during February, while Solidere "B" share price increased by 1.3% in January and decreased by 18% in February 2024.
The reason for the annual increase in the market value of the Beirut Stock Exchange is due to the increase in the share prices of Solidere and Holcim mainly as a result of increased demand for shares from a number of depositors in banks, as a way to get their deposits out of the banking sector in light of the government's economic rescue plan, which provides for the conversion of deposits into bank shares as part of the restructuring of the banking sector. On the other hand, the decline in the market value during the first two months of 2024 is due to the decline in Solidere's share prices during the period as a result of the decline in confidence since the outbreak of the war on the Gaza Strip and the start of Israeli encroachments along the blue line of the southern border of Lebanon.