Every line on your Contract Note, explained

Every time you buy or sell shares through IC Securities, you get a Contract Note. It's the final record of the trade, and it's worth knowing how to read, because every number on it can be checked.

Let's take one real-sized example: buying 125 MTN Ghana shares at GHS 6.50.

The value of the trade

The first figure is the value of the trade before any fees, sometimes called the gross consideration. It's simply shares × price:

125 × GHS 6.50 = GHS 812.50

Everything else on the note is worked out from this number.

The four statutory levies

These go to the market's institutions, not to your broker, and they're the same whichever broker you use:

Together they're 0.70% of the trade. Notice that each one is rounded to the pesewa on its own: 0.15% of 812.50 is 1.21875, which rounds to 1.22.

The brokerage

The brokerage is your broker's commission. With IC Securities, the all-in rate (levies plus brokerage) depends on the size of the trade:

Our trade is GHS 812.50, so it falls in the 2.25% tier and the brokerage is 1.55%: GHS 12.59.

The totals

Add the five charges and you get the total charges: GHS 18.28.

For a buy, the net amount is the value plus the charges: GHS 812.50 + GHS 18.28 = GHS 830.78. That's what left your account, and it's your real cost for those shares.

For a sale it works the other way: the charges come off, and the net amount is what you receive.

Why it matters for selling

Because the sale has its own charges, getting back GHS 830.78 needs a sale worth more than that. For these 125 shares the lowest price that does it is GHS 6.80, a 4.6% rise on the GHS 6.50 you paid. That's your break-even.