The market has ended the first quarter with a year-to-date loss of 6%. During the week two equities gained in value, three dipped, and the rest remaining unchanged.

The end of the first quarter generally marks the commencement of the reporting season, the time of year when companies provide regulators and the wider investment community with details of their financial performance for the previous year and also give some indication of the outlook for their businesses.

This is often delivered against a backdrop of macro-economic indicators and market/regulatory forces which together combine to influence the extent to which companies can deliver on their stated financial and operating projections. While the cedi continues to maintain its value against most of the major currencies, the consumer price index (inflation) which fell from 11.8% in December 2004 to 11.6 % in January 2005 on a year-on-year basis crept up to 14.0% in February 2005.

This was caused by the recent 50.0% increase in petroleum prices a consequence of the petroleum sector deregulation process. The non-food index increased by 6.8% compared with the 1.9% for the same period last year.

Interest rates on the money market continue to remain stable, with the benchmark 91-day Treasury bill edging up slightly from 17.1% in January 2005 to 17.17% by March 2005 compared with 18.3% in March 2004.

A total of $277mm in private inward remittances was registered for January 2005, compared to $198mm for the same month last year. This represents 40% increase above the previous figure with $81.75mm coming from individuals.

Gross international reserves reached $1,732mm, which translates into 3.8 months of imports, at the end of December 2004, but declined to $1,625mm or 3.7 months of imports by February 2005, a seasonal drop for the first quarter of this year.

The Bank of Ghana generally appears committed to stay on the path toward low stable inflation and increased GDP growth with relative exchange rate stability, achieved by the prudent implementation of fiscal monetary framework for 2005 polices.

During the week under review, the top gainer, CFAO, closed ¢275 a share, up 7.8% with a block of 552,500 shares changing hands. Even though the automobile trading company has not released its FY 04 results, investors anticipate a good performance due to the company's new investment drive.

In September 2004, CFAO entered into a partnership with Europcar, a worldwide car rental company for injection of additional professionalism and to augment its fleet of vehicles to meet international standards.

CFAO is the sole marketing agent for Renault vehicles in Ghana. The shares of CFAO have appreciated by 25.0% since January 2005 with a current P/E ratio of 21.

The other gainer, PZ, was up 0.9% to close at ¢5,750 a share with 17,300 shares traded.

Benso Palm Oil Plantation, a Unilever subsidiary, reported a modest 10% increase in turnover, weighed down by "the progressive drop in world crude oil prices from $550 in May 2004 to $430 by year end". Operating profit also fell 94.2% due to combination of production related factors including controlling the leaf miner attack.

Net income was down 65.2% on 2003 yet the Company declared a dividend of ¢73.40 per share. BOPP closed the week unchanged at ¢7,000.

In 2004, Standard Chartered Bank grew its loan portfolio by 16% to ¢1.64tn (2003: ¢1.41tn) of which 15% were classified non-performing (2003: 17%). Net income increased 9% to ¢192.5bn (2003: ¢176.3bn) translating to an EPS of ¢10,942 (2003: ¢10,017). The Board has recommended total dividend per share of ¢9,574 (2003:¢8,765).

The bank closed the week unchanged at ¢160,000 per share.

Last year, GCB grew its total assets by 10% to ¢5.6tn and reported a 34% growth in total deposits. After tax profit grew to ¢165bn from ¢93.7bn in 2003 and the board recommended a dividend per share of ¢375, up 50% on 2003.

Shareholders have consented to the issuance of up to 165mm additional shares to fund the bank's capacity expansion. This secondary issuance could significantly dilute the government's 46.8% stake as well as other shareholders who fail to exercise their right to acquire new shares.

GCB closed the week unchanged at ¢13,010. SG-SSB has reported a 5.8% increase in net interest income, driven by a reduction in the ratio of non-performing loans to total advances to 22% (2003: 27%). Charge for bad debts was also halved to ¢22bn from ¢55.6bn for the previous year. Net profit was up an impressive 20.7% in 2004.

The local subsidiary of the French bank Société Générale has declared a dividend of ¢900 per share (2003: ¢700) on the back of improved Earnings Per Share of ¢1,490 (2003: ¢1,286).

After 14 years running HFC, Mrs Baeta Ansah will resign on July 1, 2005 and be replaced as CEO by Mr Asare Akuffo, currently deputy managing director of the bank. HFC, formerly a mortgage institution, but now a universal bank, also operates three funds - HFC-REIT, HFC Equity Fund and HFC Unit Trust.

Since 1991, HFC has written $25mm in mortgages and is currently the only issuer of corporate bonds on the local market. Heavy selling pressure caused HFC to lose 10% to close the week at ¢7,740 with 7,300 shares traded.

TBL also closed 10% down at ¢27,900 a share with 13,200 shares changing hands. There has been minimal investor interest in the Gambian bank since middle of last year. This lack of demand has developed into severe selling pressure likely to push the stock further downwards.

CLYD was down 7.7% to ¢1,200 with 140,300 shares traded. Demand for the shares of the IT company was non-existent during the week with desperate shareholders willing to sell at a discount.

During the week, Mechanical Lloyd announced an increase of 30.5% in turnover to ¢120.4bn for FY 04 (2003: ¢92.3bn). Net profit for FY 04 was ¢5.8bn, an increase of 13.3% (2003: ¢5bn) with a balance of ¢14bn (improvement of 41.4%) in the company's income surplus account.

MLC closed the week unchanged at ¢3,000 with 54,100 shares changing hands.

BAT recorded a turnover of ¢472.1bn for FY 04, a gain of 17.4% (2003: ¢402.2). The Company's other income for FY 04 went up 18.6% to ¢5.1bn (2003: ¢4.2bn) with net profit increasing by 7.4% to ¢37bn (2003: ¢34.3bn). BAT traded 3,400 shares but remained unchanged at ¢4,500 per share.

The stock price has recorded a loss of 41.6% since January with the P/E ratio presently standing at seven (7), the lowest on the Exchange.

Pioneer Aluminium Factory announced a growth of 30% in turnover to ¢26.1bn for the FY 04 (2003: ¢20.3bn). The Company declared a net profit of ¢545.3mn for FY 04, down 3% (2003: ¢559.5mn). Earnings per share dropped by 2.6% to ¢33.06 for FY 04 (2003: ¢33.93). The stock did not trade during the week with the price stabilized at ¢800 per share since January 2005 to-date.