SODECI’s financial performance bodes well for its share value on the BRVM. Investors are confident in its growth perspectives but all the indicators need to be taken into account.

From 2003 to date, the share value of Cote d'Ivoire's water supply agency SODECI rose from XOF995 to 4,880. This represents a whopping 390% rise. Even this year, the share is still on its uptrending run. Between January to May 31, 2022, it rose by 13%. The performance is far from the 43.65% recorded in 2021 but, it exceeds the 6.8% posted in 2020. 

The agency’s fundamentals are attractive. In Q1-2022, its net profit shot up 27% year on year to a record XOF1 billion. So the share value is likely to rise further if the agency keeps posting such attractive performances. Over the past five years, the dividends it distributed rose from XOF270 (in 2017) to 432 (for FY2021). 

Also, SODECI’s price-to-earnings ratio improved from 16 in 2017 to 10 nowadays. This means that it now takes less time for investors to recoup their initial investments. For analysts, 10 is an attractive price-to-earnings ratio (depending on the sector) particularly if the dividend–price ratio rises faster than the earning-per-shares ratio. Investors, retail particularly, will monitor the dividend-price ratio. Currently, that ratio is 8.9%. Though below the 10% recorded in 2021, it is still higher than the interest on Côte d’Ivoire’s long-term government bonds. 

Idriss Linge