Investors in the Nigerian equities heaved a sigh of relief as the losing streak on the bourse was halted on Monday, April 22, 2024 as investors recorded a profit of N70bn at the end of trading.

This followed the boom in the share value of stocks like Japaul Gold, GTCO, FTN Cocoa, Universal Insurance Company and RT Briscoe amongst others on the trading floor today.

After five hours of trading at the capital market, the equity capitalization increased to N56.367 trillion from N56.296 trillion posted by the bourse on Friday, last week.

Similarly, the All-Share Index (ASI) grew to 99,665.05 from 99,539.75 achieved by the bourse the previous day.

The market breadth was negative 16 stocks advanced, 18 stocks declined, while 85 stocks remained unchanged in 8, 298 deals.

Japaul Gold and Ventures Plc led other gainers with 9.58 percent growth to close at N1.83 from its previous price of N1.67, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), FTN Cocoa Processors, and Universal Insurance Plc are amongst other gainers that also grew their share prices by 9.55 percent, 8.76 percent, and 8.57 percent respectively.

On the flip side, The Initiate Plc led other price decliners as it shed 10% off its share price to close at N1.80 from its previous close of N2.00. Prestige Assurance, Omatek Ventures, and VitaFoam Nigeria Plc are amongst other losers that also shed their share prices by 9.84 percent, 9.52 percent, and 9.26 percent respectively.

On the volume index, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) Plc traded 50.158 million units of its shares in 630 deals, valued at N1.1774 billion followed by Access Holdings Plc which traded 48.067 million units of its shares in 951 deals, valued at N815.925 million and United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc which traded 41.746 million units of its shares in 776 deals, valued at N956.455 million.

On the value index, GTCO recorded the highest value for the day trading stocks worth N1.773bn in 630 deals followed by UBA which traded equities worth N956bn in 776 deals and ACCESSCORP which traded equities worth N815m in 951 deals.

Transcorp Power Plc (Transcorp Power), one of the electricity generating subsidiaries of Nigeria’s leading, listed conglomerate, Transnational Corporation Plc (Transcorp Group), has demonstrated impressive financial performance in its released Q1 2024 unaudited financial statements, for the period ended March 31, 2024.

The Company recorded N67.86 billion in gross earnings, compared to N21.04 billion reported in Q1 2023, reflecting a significant increase of 223 percent.

The strong performance is further demonstration of the Company’s strategic focus and effective execution, as part of Transcorp Group’s implementation of its integrated power strategy.

Commenting on the financial highlights, Evans Okpogoro, the Chief Financial Officer said, “The Q1 2024 results saw a gross margin of 51 percent, a cost to income ratio of 70 percent and net profit margin of 30 percent compared to Q1 2023 gross margin of 37 percent, cost to income ratio of 87 percent and net profit margin of 13 percent.

“This highlights the remarkable operational efficiency gains of the Company. Transcorp Power has continued to grow its revenue aggressively and consistently over the last five years.  We expect that by year end 2024, we will see a similar growth trajectory recorded between FY 2022 and FY 2023.”

Transcorp Power MD/CEO, Peter Ikenga, commented on the results, saying, “We are pleased to report further robust financial performance, despite sectoral challenges such as gas supply issues and macroeconomic challenges.  Our ability to sustain growth amidst this environment shows the resilience of our business model and the efficient execution of our strategic initiatives.

“We remain committed to leveraging our strengths to capitalise on emerging opportunities, drive sustainable growth and provide superior value to all our stakeholders.

“We will continue to prioritise ingenuity, operational excellence, corporate governance, and stakeholder engagement, to deliver superior value for our long-term growth,” he added.

Investors in the Nigerian equities market ended the week’s trading with a N173 billion loss on Friday.

This followed the slump in the share value of Unity Bank, FBNH, Tantalizer, and Deap Capital Management & Trust, amongst others on the trading floor today.

After five hours of trading at the capital market, the equity capitalisation crashed to N56.2 trillion from N56.4 trillion posted by the bourse on Thursday.

Similarly, the All-Share Index (ASI) fell to 99,539.75 from 99,845.91 achieved by the bourse the previous day.

The market breadth was negative as 14 stocks advanced, 19 declined while 87 others remained unchanged in 7,168 deals.

FTN Cocoa Processors led other gainers with 9.60 percent growth in share price to close at N1.37 from its previous N1.25 per share.

R.T. Briscoe, Livestock Feeds, and Royal Exchange also raised their share prices by 9.26 percent, 9.02 percent, and 8.06 percent respectively.

On the flip side, Unity Bank led other price decliners as it shed 10 percent off its share price to close at N1.62 from the previous N1.80 per share.

Tantalizers, Deap Capital, and Caverton Offshore equally shed their share prices by 8.57 percent, 7.35 percent, and 6.83 percent respectively.

On the volume index, United Bank for Africa (UBA) traded 38.715 million shares valued at N880.5 million in 687 deals followed by Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) which traded 38.296 million shares worth N1.31 billion in 629 deals.

Access Holdings traded 34.339 million shares valued at N584.5 million in 660 deals.

On the value index, banking stocks led the way again as GTCO recorded the highest value for the day, trading stocks worth N1.31 billion in 629 deals followed by UBA which traded stocks worth N880 million in 687 deals.

Zenith Bank traded equities worth N875 million in 622 deals.