The financial outcomes for the year 2023 have been disclosed for 6 out of the 10 companies that make up the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange indicator. Last week, the stock market was influenced by the shares of the banking sector, including Kaspi.kz, the People's Bank of Kazakhstan, and the national oil and gas company KazMunayGas. The publication of the financial results for 2023 by these companies is expected to impact dividend payouts for the previous year and investor interest in the domestic stock market.
Among the companies listed on KASE, disappointment to investors may come from the government investment holding company Samruk-Kazyna's portfolio company, the airline Air Astana. According to the company's financial report published on the KASE website, Air Astana's net profit in 2023 decreased by 12.37% from $68.7 million to $78.4 million compared to the previous year. The earnings per share (basic and diluted) were 22.5 cents. Even if 100% of the net profit is directed towards dividends, the yield to the IPO price of 1073.83 tenge per share or $9.5 per Global Depositary Receipt (GDR) would be 8%.
During a press conference on March 15, the company's CEO, Peter Foster, mentioned that the dividend issue would be considered at the end of the first quarter. Air Astana plans to distribute dividends in the future based on financial performance, aiming for at least 20% of the net profit. If Air Astana allocates dividends for the previous year, 20% of the net profit per share would amount to 17.3 tenge. The yield to the IPO price in this scenario would be 1.6%. With current tenge deposit rates (14-15%), this represents a poor dividend perspective, suggesting the need to look for potential business growth or speculative interest in the company's shares.
In the past year, KazTransOil, after publishing its financial report for 2023, demonstrated an increase in consolidated net profit, reaching 32.845 billion tenge, which is 65.9% higher than the result in 2022. The national atomic company Kazatomprom's net profit for the previous year amounted to 580.335 billion tenge, marking a 23% increase compared to 2022. The net profit per share (basic and diluted) was 1,616 tenge, up from 1,342 tenge the previous year.
Kcell reported a net profit of approximately 33 billion tenge for the past year, which was lower than the figure for 2022 by 7.5 billion tenge. This decrease was attributed to significant growth in capital expenditures for network development and modernization, as well as substantial investments in deploying fifth-generation communication technology. The People's Bank announced that the net profit attributable to ordinary shareholders increased by 21.8% to 693.4 billion tenge for the past year compared to 569.5 billion tenge the previous year, primarily due to significant growth in credit and transactional business.
Adjusted for the share of profits in jointly controlled entities and associated companies, KazMunayGas' net profit stood at 1.010 trillion tenge ($2.214 billion) compared to 778 billion tenge ($1.687 billion).
Initial dividend forecasts from experts have emerged. Freedom Broker predicts a recommendation of 850 tenge per share for Kaspi.kz. Forecasts for Kazatomprom are set at no less than 1,000 tenge per share, and for KazTransOil at 60-70 tenge per share.
In terms of the KASE activities for the week, the KASE index experienced growth for 28 out of 32 sessions starting from January 31 this year. Despite some declines on specific trading days, the overall index increased by 22.71 points or 0.46% from 4,972.90 to 4,995.61 points. The index reached its high at 5,031.74 points on March 15. Trading volume for index-listed stocks for the week from March 11 to 15 amounted to 3.2211 trillion tenge or $7.1726 billion compared to 3.5807 trillion tenge or $7.9476 billion the previous week.
The growth triggers for the domestic market were the shares of Kaspi.kz, the People's Bank, and KazMunayGas. Kaspi.kz's rise is associated with an anticipated positive financial report for the previous year and the delisting of American Depositary Shares (ADS) and Global Depositary Receipts (GDR) from the London Stock Exchange (LSE) by no later than March 25. Halyk Global Markets (HGM), a subsidiary of the People's Bank, paid dividends of 1.5 billion tenge to the bank from undistributed net profit for 2016 and 2017. The dividend per ordinary share was determined at 1,016.84 tenge.
Air Astana was included in the KASE representative list on March 1 following its IPO in mid-February. The listing price was set at 1,073.83 tenge per share on KASE and AIX, and $9.5 per GDR on AIX and the London Stock Exchange. However, the interest from investors in this security remains limited. As of the first week of March, the last transaction for this stock was recorded at 1,102.00 tenge. On the past Friday, the price dropped to 1,064.00 tenge per share. The company's index share was 10.2%, down by 0.4% from the previous week and 0.8% from the beginning of March.
Bank CenterCredit's shares significantly increased at the beginning of February this year. However, during the last trading week, the shares lost 108.28 points or 6.23%, dropping from 1,738.08 to 1,629.80 points. The index share was 7.6%, which is 0.5% lower than the previous week.
The week was mixed for the shares of the People's Bank (HSBK). Following the announcement of receiving 1.5 billion tenge from its subsidiary Halyk Global Markets, the bank's shares initially rose, driven by investor hopes for good dividends. However, after reaching a maximum price of 222.54 tenge per share on Wednesday, March 13, the stock prices sharply declined. They hit a local minimum of 206.80 on Thursday, March 14, before rebounding to 214.99 points on Friday, March 15. The shares had grown by 15.59% in a month, with an index share of 15.7%, up from 15.3% the previous week.
The shares of Kcell, the domestic telecom operator, stopped their positive trend. After rising from the second decade of January this year, the stock prices decreased by 19.6 points or 0.62% during the past trading week, falling from 3,059.10 to 3,040.00 points. The index share dropped from 12.8% to 12.7%.
KEGOC, the power transmission company, experienced a downward trend for the week, with the shares falling by 7.98 points or 0.54% from 1,489.99 to 1,482.01 points. The index share was 3.7%, down from 3.8% the previous week.
KazMunayGas saw its shares increase by 130.01 points or 1.09% from 11,950.00 to 12,080.01 points, with an index share remaining at 13.5%.
Kaspi.kz's shares rebounded strongly after a correction period, with a notable increase of 2,702.32 points or 5.54%. The company plans to delist ADS and GDR from the LSE by March 25, 2024. The index share was 15.2%, down from 16.0% the previous week.
Kazatomprom's shares decreased for the fourth consecutive week, albeit slightly by less than 0.01%. The index share dropped by 0.1% to 14.1%.
Kazakhtelecom's shares declined by 197.18 points or 0.55% from 35,864.50 to 35,667.32 points. The index share remained at 4.5%.
KazTransOil's shares, after a three-week rise, fell by 16.55 points or 1.92% during the past trading week, dropping from 863.85 to 847.30 points.
