Zim News Blog -NEWS NETWORK

HARARE — Amalgamated Regional Trading Holdings (ART) suffered a sharp contraction in battery volumes during the third quarter of 2026, with production and sales constrained by working-capital shortages, weaker replacement demand and intensifying competition from cheaper imports.

The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed diversified industrial group said battery volumes in Zimbabwe fell 26 percent year-on-year in the quarter ended June 2026, reversing some of the recovery recorded during the first half of the financial year.

According to Equity Axis News, the deterioration was driven by several simultaneous pressures, including constrained liquidity, supply-chain disruptions and weaker-than-expected demand for replacement batteries.

The Energy Storage division nevertheless remained profitable at operating level, with restructuring initiatives, tighter cost controls and a more favourable product mix helping to cushion the impact of lower volumes.

Working capital becomes the critical constraint

ART’s battery operations ran at approximately 62 percent capacity utilisation during the quarter, leaving significant unused manufacturing capacity.

Management has identified working capital as the principal obstacle to increasing production, particularly the availability of funds for raw materials and inventory.

The constraint is significant because the group already has an operating manufacturing base capable of producing more batteries. A sustained recovery therefore depends less on immediate expansion of physical capacity and more on restoring liquidity sufficiently to keep factories supplied and finished products available.

“Working capital constraints, lower scrap collections and supply-chain disruptions continued to limit production,” Equity Axis News reported in its analysis of the trading update.

The situation represents a reversal from the second quarter, when Batteries Zimbabwe returned to profitability after local volumes increased 3 percent and exports recovered 10 percent.

Demand recovery fails to materialise

ART had anticipated stronger replacement-battery demand during the quarter, but the expected seasonal increase failed to emerge.

Economic activity in agriculture and mining improved, yet this did not translate into a corresponding increase in battery purchases. Tight liquidity among consumers and businesses continued to affect purchasing decisions.

At the same time, cheaper imported batteries gained market share across regional markets.

This creates a difficult competitive equation for ART. While its domestic manufacturing operation faces internationally priced inputs and supply-chain pressures, imported competitors are increasingly able to compete on the final selling price.

Equity Axis News said “lower-priced imported batteries gained regional market share”, adding another layer of pressure to ART’s already constrained operating environment.

Zambia remains under pressure

ART’s regional operations also continued to struggle.

Battery volumes in Zambia fell 16 percent during the third quarter and were down 9 percent over the nine months.

The group said restructuring and tighter cost management had improved the performance of the operation, with management concentrating on rebuilding market presence and improving product availability.

The Zambian weakness is particularly important because regional exports provide ART with an avenue to utilise manufacturing capacity beyond Zimbabwe’s domestic market.

However, exports themselves remained under pressure. Battery export volumes were 24 percent below the prior-year level over nine months, partly reflecting ART’s decision to prioritise collections and orders capable of generating sustainable margins.

ART tightens credit as risks increase

The group has also become more selective about the quality of business entering its distribution network.

ART tightened credit terms in parts of the informal market as collection risks increased. While the approach reduced volumes, management said it lowered exposure to potentially poor-quality receivables.

That decision highlights the trade-off facing the group: pushing volumes aggressively could increase sales but simultaneously weaken cash conversion and expose the business to higher credit losses.

For a company already constrained by working capital, improving the quality of cash generation can be more important than maximising reported sales volumes.

Group turnover comes under pressure

The combination of lower battery volumes, weaker demand and tighter credit conditions affected the broader group.

ART’s total sales volumes declined 15 percent in the third quarter, leaving nine-month volumes 3 percent below the comparable period.

Quarterly turnover fell 9 percent to US$7.06 million, from US$7.79 million previously, while nine-month turnover was broadly unchanged at US$21.34 million.

The figures point to a business that has managed to protect profitability in parts of its operations through restructuring and cost discipline, but has yet to restore the volume growth required to unlock its manufacturing capacity.

Q4 becomes a test of the recovery strategy

For The Zimbabwe Financial Mail, the central investment question is whether ART can convert operational restructuring into a sustained recovery once liquidity constraints begin to ease.

Market analysts told the publication that the company’s 62 percent capacity utilisation provides a useful indicator of both the problem and the potential opportunity.

“ART does not appear to have a fundamental shortage of manufacturing capacity; the immediate issue is the ability to finance production and maintain adequate inventory,” one equity-market analyst told The Zimbabwe Financial Mail.

Another business analyst said the Q4 performance would need to demonstrate an improvement across several indicators rather than simply higher production.

“The important metrics will be capacity utilisation, battery volumes, stock availability and cash conversion. Higher production without corresponding demand and cash generation would not constitute a meaningful recovery,” the analyst said.

Competition complicates the recovery

ART’s recovery is also taking place in an increasingly competitive regional battery market.

Imported products are gaining ground partly because of their lower prices, while ART continues to contend with internationally priced inputs. This means that restoring production volumes alone may not be sufficient to recover margins.

The company will need to balance higher utilisation with product pricing, procurement efficiency and working-capital discipline.

For investors, this makes the final quarter particularly important. If improved liquidity allows ART to raise utilisation materially above the 62 percent recorded in Q3 while maintaining margins and collections, the group could begin converting its existing manufacturing footprint into stronger earnings.

Failure to achieve that progression would suggest that working capital, although a major constraint, is only one component of the group’s wider competitive challenge.

The immediate test is therefore straightforward: ART must turn liquidity into production, production into sales and sales into cash. The extent to which it achieves that sequence in Q4 will determine whether the restructuring programme marks the beginning of a durable recovery or merely provides temporary protection against a deeper volume decline.

The post ART battery volumes plunge 26% as working-capital constraints deepen appeared first on The Zimbabwe Mail.

HARARE — Zimbabwean equities surrendered part of the previous session’s gains on Tuesday, with the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) All Share Index falling 1.02 percent as selling pressure returned to major counters and market turnover remained subdued.

The All Share Index closed at 479.69 points, down from 484.61 points on Monday, while the ZSE Top 10 declined 1.11 percent to 486.07 points and the Top 15 lost 1.01 percent to 497.78 points.

Market capitalisation fell to ZWG107.50 billion, from ZWG108.61 billion in the previous session, representing a decline of about ZWG1.11 billion.

Trading activity remained thin, with 60 trades generating ZWG4.12 million in turnover.

The retreat followed Monday’s 1.89 percent advance in the All Share Index, suggesting that the recent rally remains vulnerable to profit-taking, particularly in counters that have experienced sharp price movements.

Proplastics leads losses

Proplastics was Tuesday’s biggest casualty, falling 14.55 percent to 115.31 cents, while Mashonaland Holdings declined 8 percent to 230 cents.

GetBucks Holdings fell 4.29 percent to 10.05 cents, CBZ Holdings shed 3.84 percent to 3,992.21 cents and British American Tobacco Zimbabwe declined 3.10 percent to 18,400 cents.

The selling in CBZ was particularly notable after the banking group had been the market’s strongest large-cap performer on Monday, when its share price jumped 11.97 percent.

A market analyst told The Zimbabwe Financial Mail that the reversal illustrated the extent to which momentum rather than broad-based liquidity was influencing short-term price formation.

“Yesterday’s CBZ rally was exceptionally strong, and today’s decline suggests some investors were prepared to lock in gains. In a relatively thin market, a small number of transactions can produce sizeable price movements,” the analyst said.

Another equity-market analyst said investors should distinguish between a change in fundamental valuation and short-term trading activity.

“The decline does not necessarily invalidate the bullish case for the financial sector. What matters is whether earnings expectations and institutional demand are strong enough to absorb profit-taking,” the analyst said.

Financial stocks remain in focus

Although the market declined, the latest movement comes against a broader period of strong performance for Zimbabwean equities.

Independent market data showed the Zimbabwean market had gained substantially during 2026, with financial stocks among the principal drivers of the advance.

The financial sector’s strength has been linked by analysts to improving monetary conditions, stronger earnings visibility and investor preference for counters with relatively deep liquidity.

The reversal in CBZ therefore carries more significance than the movement in smaller counters because the bank is one of the exchange’s largest companies and its price movements have a meaningful effect on market indices.

“Financials remain one of the areas where investors can find scale and earnings visibility, but valuations have moved rapidly. That naturally creates a higher probability of short-term consolidation,” another analyst told The Zimbabwe Financial Mail.

Only three counters advance

The market’s breadth was weak, with only three counters registering gains.

Ariston Holdings rose 1.01 percent to 7.60 cents, TN CyberTech Investments advanced 0.38 percent to 30.16 cents and Seed Co gained a marginal 0.09 percent to 491.94 cents.

The limited number of advancing counters indicates that Tuesday’s weakness was relatively broad rather than being driven exclusively by one large company.

The Small Cap Index remained unchanged at 100.11 points, while the Mid Cap Index fell 0.58 percent to 482.34 points.

“The absence of meaningful participation from small and mid-cap counters is important. A sustainable market recovery normally requires breadth, not simply appreciation in a handful of large stocks,” an equity analyst said.

Property counters also weaken

Listed property also came under pressure.

Tigere Property Fund declined 2.41 percent to 107.31 cents, reducing its market capitalisation to approximately ZWG2 billion.

Revitus Property Fund remained unchanged at 198.25 cents.

The weakness comes as Zimbabwe’s property investment market attracts increasing attention from institutional investors, with the development of REITs and growing investment in commercial and hospitality property creating new avenues for capital mobilisation.

However, analysts said the performance of listed property vehicles would ultimately depend on rental income, occupancy, asset valuations and the ability to generate distributions rather than simply movements in underlying property prices.

“REITs offer investors exposure to hard assets, but the market still needs stronger liquidity and clearer income visibility for property counters to attract sustained institutional participation,” a business analyst said.

Sector indices largely flat

The sector picture was relatively subdued.

The ZSE ETF Index was unchanged at 622.61 points, while the Modified Consumer Staples Index slipped 0.07 percent to 433.39 points.

The Zim National Index declined 0.54 percent to 183.89 points, while both the Mining Index at 147.11 points and the Information, Communication and Technology Index at 456.23 points were unchanged.

The absence of movement in mining and ICT suggests investors were largely concentrated in individual counters rather than undertaking broad sector rotation.

Thin liquidity remains the market’s weakness

The most persistent concern remains liquidity.

Tuesday’s ZWG4.12 million turnover across 60 trades is modest relative to a market capitalisation of more than ZWG107 billion.

That means even relatively small orders can have a disproportionate impact on share prices, creating volatility that may not necessarily correspond with changes in underlying company fundamentals.

The liquidity challenge has become more significant following the migration of several major companies from the ZSE to the US dollar-denominated Victoria Falls Stock Exchange.

The VFEX had overtaken the ZSE in market capitalisation during 2026, following Econet’s departure from the main exchange and subsequent migrations by other counters.

An analyst said this continued to create a structural challenge for the ZSE.

“The ZSE needs to rebuild its institutional investment base. Price appreciation is encouraging, but without deeper liquidity, investors will continue to face difficulty entering and exiting positions without moving prices materially,” the analyst said.

Corporate results could reshape valuations

The market is also entering an increasingly information-heavy period, with listed companies releasing trading updates that could provide a fundamental basis for the next round of share-price movements.

Recent disclosures include updates from ART Corporation, Tanganda, CFI Holdings, Star Africa and Willdale, giving investors fresh information on volumes, revenue, margins, capital expenditure and working-capital conditions.

For equity investors, the significance of these announcements lies in whether operational improvements are translating into sustainable earnings growth.

“Corporate results are becoming increasingly important because the market has already experienced substantial nominal price appreciation. Investors now need evidence that earnings are catching up with valuations,” said one market analyst.

Another analyst said companies demonstrating stronger cash generation and balance-sheet resilience were likely to command greater investor attention.

“In this environment, revenue growth alone is insufficient. The market will reward companies that can convert sales into cash, defend margins and maintain dividend capacity,” the analyst said.

Market enters consolidation phase

Tuesday’s retreat does not necessarily signal a reversal of the broader market recovery, but it does suggest that investors are becoming more selective following the strong gains recorded across several counters.

The All Share Index remains above Monday’s opening level despite the decline, while market capitalisation remains substantially above levels recorded earlier in the year.

The immediate test is whether selling pressure persists or whether investors use the correction to re-enter fundamentally stronger counters.

For the ZSE, the bigger challenge remains structural: turning index appreciation into a deeper, more liquid and fundamentally driven equity market.

Until turnover broadens and more counters attract sustained institutional participation, sharp one-day movements such as CBZ’s 11.97 percent gain followed by a 3.84 percent decline will remain a defining feature of Zimbabwe’s equity market.

The post ZSE retreats 1% as CBZ, Proplastics lead sell-off appeared first on The Zimbabwe Mail.

Wicknell Chivayo’s high-profile car-gifting campaign has taken another turn after musician Enzo Ishall sold a Mercedes-Benz GLE400 he received from the businessman for US$60,000, despite Chivayo saying he paid about US$145,000 for it. The sale has brought the practical cost of owning expensive vehicles into sharp focus. For the recipient, the keys may arrive as […]

The post Disappointed by Enzo Ishall: Wicknell Chivayo’s luxury car gifts leave a trail of accidents, repairs and resale losses first appeared on My Zimbabwe News.

HARARE — Zimbabwe’s formal retail sector is entering a new phase of expansion, with established chains and emerging operators investing in additional stores even as informal traders continue to exert intense pressure on prices, convenience and consumer spending.

The latest investment cycle, according to Equity Axisis, is being led by TM Pick n Pay, SPAR and Bhola, whose expansion strategies differ but share a common objective: capturing consumer demand in a market where the traditional supermarket model is being reshaped by informality, currency dynamics and increasingly price-sensitive households.

The renewed investment is taking place against a difficult backdrop. OK Zimbabwe, once the country’s dominant supermarket operator, has been forced into corporate rescue after severe liquidity and supplier-payment pressures exposed the vulnerabilities of operating a large formal retail network in Zimbabwe’s volatile trading environment.

TM Pick n Pay turns volumes into profitability

TM Pick n Pay has provided one of the clearest signs that formal retail can still generate growth when operators combine tighter cost management with improved customer traffic.

During the year ended February 2026, the retailer opened a new supermarket in Shurugwi and invested approximately US$3.2 million in capital expenditure, funded entirely from internally generated cash.

Unit sales increased 6 percent, while gross margin expanded to 29 percent from 23 percent. Its supermarket division moved from an operating loss of ZWG516.3 million to an operating profit of ZWG63.7 million.

The improvement came despite weaker average basket values, with customers visiting stores more frequently and purchasing more units.

An important shift was also evident in the currency composition of sales. US dollar-denominated sales increased from an average of 23 percent to 45 percent of supermarket revenue, providing greater foreign-currency capacity for procurement and inventory replenishment.

The performance suggests that, for formal retailers, increasing transaction frequency may be more important than simply attempting to increase the value of each shopping basket.

SPAR expands through independent operators

SPAR Zimbabwe is pursuing a different route to expansion by relying on independently operated stores under its established brand and retail-support system.

A new supermarket opened in Mazowe in March, comprising about 970 square metres of grocery retail space, alongside a 130-square-metre liquor section.

The store stocks more than 4,300 products and targets a diverse catchment incorporating agricultural and mining workers, highway traffic and surrounding communities.

The independent-retailer model allows SPAR to expand its footprint without every new outlet requiring the same level of corporate capital deployment from the central organisation.

It also gives individual operators greater responsibility for local execution while benefiting from the broader group’s procurement, branding and retail infrastructure.

That structure could prove increasingly relevant in Zimbabwe, where store economics vary considerably between urban centres, mining communities, agricultural districts and transport corridors.

Bhola challenges established retail formats

Bhola is adding another dimension to the competitive landscape.

The company initially built its presence in hardware before expanding into groceries and larger Mega Mart formats.

Its approach has centred on broad product ranges, aggressive sourcing from domestic and international suppliers, multi-currency trading and price competition.

The move into supermarkets illustrates how Zimbabwe’s retail boundaries are becoming less rigid. Hardware operators, wholesalers and smaller traders can increasingly migrate into grocery retail when they identify opportunities to exploit their existing procurement networks and customer bases.

Unlike legacy supermarket groups carrying extensive historical store infrastructure, newer entrants can potentially design their outlets around current consumer behaviour, product demand and location economics.

Informal traders remain the price benchmark

The biggest challenge for all formal retailers, however, continues to come from the informal economy.

A 2026 IH Securities consumer study found that a 16-item basket of basic goods was approximately 12 percent cheaper in tuckshops than in formal retail outlets.

The price difference reflects structural disparities in operating costs. Formal retailers must contend with taxation, labour, property, utilities, licensing and compliance expenses, while smaller informal businesses frequently operate with substantially lower fixed costs.

Informal traders also benefit from proximity. A neighbourhood tuckshop can serve customers within walking distance, reducing transport costs and allowing households to purchase small quantities more frequently.

That combination of lower prices and convenience makes informal retailers formidable competitors even when supermarkets offer significantly broader product ranges.

Currency dynamics have reshaped competition

The competitive imbalance became particularly visible during Zimbabwe’s currency and pricing disruptions.

Formal retailers have previously warned that exchange-rate rules could leave them structurally more expensive than informal competitors when suppliers adjusted prices in response to parallel-market currency conditions.

The result was a growing divergence between the prices available through formal supermarket chains and those offered by informal traders.

For large retailers, the problem extends beyond pricing. When customers migrate to informal channels, falling sales volumes can reduce stock turnover, weaken supplier relationships and increase the amount of working capital tied up in inventory.

That was part of the broader pressure eventually confronting OK Zimbabwe.

OK Zimbabwe highlights the risks

OK Zimbabwe’s difficulties demonstrate what happens when a large retail footprint meets severe working-capital constraints.

By May 2025, the retailer owed suppliers approximately US$30.34 million, had closed five stores and faced difficulties maintaining adequate stock across parts of its network.

Shareholders subsequently approved a US$30 million recapitalisation programme as the company attempted to restore liquidity, rebuild supplier confidence and stabilise operations.

The contrast with TM Pick n Pay is instructive.

While TM Pick n Pay has been able to finance expansion through internally generated cash, OK Zimbabwe has had to focus on balance-sheet repair and restoring the foundations of its existing network.

The emerging market therefore rewards not simply store numbers but cash generation, stock availability, procurement efficiency and the ability to maintain customer traffic.

The supermarket is becoming a distribution platform

Technology is also beginning to change the economics of formal retail.

TM Pick n Pay already operates an online shopping platform and mobile application offering home delivery and collection from stores.

The significance extends beyond e-commerce sales. Existing supermarkets can increasingly function as fulfilment points, allowing the same inventory, warehousing infrastructure and locations to service both physical shoppers and digitally generated orders.

South Africa demonstrates the potential scale of this model. Shoprite’s Sixty60 generated R25.5 billion in sales in the year to June 2026, following 34.5 percent growth, with the platform reaching sales equivalent to approximately 11 percent of Shoprite’s South African supermarket business.

Zimbabwe’s economics are different, particularly because of deeper informality, higher price sensitivity and constraints around power, data and logistics.

Nevertheless, established retailers already possess assets that would be expensive for pure digital businesses to replicate: stores, inventory, supplier relationships, cold-chain infrastructure and customer networks.

A new retail hierarchy is emerging

Zimbabwe’s supermarket sector is consequently being reshaped rather than simply expanded.

TM Pick n Pay is demonstrating that higher volumes, stronger margins and disciplined capital expenditure can support store growth. SPAR is using independent operators to distribute expansion risk and bring locally financed outlets into new catchments. Bhola is challenging conventional supermarket structures through a broader multi-format strategy.

Meanwhile, OK Zimbabwe must first rebuild liquidity and restore stock availability.

Informal retailers remain the market’s most powerful price benchmark, forcing formal operators to find other sources of competitive advantage through procurement scale, product assortment, customer experience, location, technology and brand trust.

The result is likely to be a more fragmented but potentially more productive retail market in which store count alone will no longer determine market power.

The decisive metric will increasingly be how efficiently each outlet converts capital and inventory into sales, how frequently customers return and how successfully retailers balance formal-sector costs against the informal market’s low-price advantage.

Zimbabwe’s retail investment cycle is therefore returning, but it is returning under very different rules. The next generation of winners will not necessarily be the businesses with the largest physical footprint. They will be those capable of combining scale with cash discipline, procurement power with competitive pricing, and physical stores with increasingly digital distribution.

The post Zimbabwe retail investment gathers pace despite informal-market squeeze appeared first on The Zimbabwe Mail.

Zimbabwean police have released the names of 39 more people who died when a Rural Infrastructure Development Agency passenger ferry capsized on Lake Kariba, taking the number of positively identified victims to 83. The latest list includes 21 children, among them a one-month-old baby, a seven-month-old infant and several toddlers. The names were released as […]

The post Police release NAMES, AGES & ADDRESSES of 83 people who died in Lake Kariba ferry accident… 6 bodies can’t be identified first appeared on My Zimbabwe News.