Average household monthly income drops to US$57        The average household monthly income has decreased from US$75 in 2021 to US$57 this year amid concerns that millions of ordinary citizens are now living in abject poverty. This was revealed in the latest Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZimVac) report on income and expenditure. “Given the fact that most rural households are agriculture based  and susceptible to climate – related shocks, there is need for accelerated climate proofed agriculture. This is in light of the average household monthly income which decreased from US$75 in 2021 to US$57 in 2022,” read the ZimVac report.

Inflation knocks off US$650m from Seed Co revenue                 Seed firm, Seed Co Limited (SCL) recorded a loss of $650,5 million in its inflation adjusted financial results for the year ended March 31, 2022 owing to a 75% increase in cost of sales due to inflation. The loss was from a profit after tax of $1.43 billion over the comparative 2021 period. In a statement attached to the financial records under review, SCL noted that the company was a victim to an unstable economic environment during the period highlighted. “The period under review witnessed an unstable economic environment dominated by a weakening currency, volatile exchange rates and pricing distortions. Although the decline in COVID – 19 cases and the subsequent removal of lockdown restrictions was a notable development towards normalization of operations, the cost of production soared because of inflationary pressures,” SCL said. “Most farmers delayed planting due to late rains and a mid – season dry spell compounded this situation which resulted in notable crop write offs during the season. The country now expects a below – normal harvest.” The inflationary pressures saw the group revenue down nearly 8% to $9.31 billion from a 2021 comparative of $3.63 billion

Newsday 13/07/2022

"The local bourse continues to weaken further."

Losses among the market's heavyweights kept the ZSE All Share Index from moving out of the red. The Top 10 Index lost 0.71 percent, the All Share Index dropped by 0.94 percent, and the medium cap stocks fell by 1.93 percent. The small cap index increased 4.36 percent to close at 527,437.46 as it continued to trade in a manner that was negatively correlated to the market as a whole. The market was light with 2.7 million shares changing hands for $135.37 million. Simbisa traded shares worth $31.2 million, while Innscor traded shares worth $45.14 million, dominating the Top Trades in Value list.

FML led the active stocks as it traded at the circuit breaker, gaining 15% after trading 1200 shares to close at $19.55, while Turnall and Edgars also saw gains of 14.5% and 14.5%, respectively. Willdale, a brick manufacturer, gained 12.37 percent after losing the previous session.

On the other hand, the retail behemoth OK Zimbabwe was down 12.54 percent, while the hotels RTG topped the laggards shedding 13.27 percent to settle at $8.50. Following publishing disappointing audited financial statements, the seed giant Seed Co. kept trading in the negative territory.