Access Bank, GTBank, others join Meristem Growth Index
By Kayode Tokede
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has announced the results of its annual full year market index review for the following indices – the NSE 30, NSE Lotus Islamic, NSE Pension, Corporate Governance Index, Afrinvest Bank Value Index, Afrinvest Dividend Yield Index, Meristem Growth Index, Meristem Value Index; and the five Sectoral Indices of The Exchange – NSE Banking, NSE Insurance, NSE Industrial, NSE Consumer Goods and NSE Oil & Gas.
The review has led to the entry and exit of major companies from several indices which will take effect when the market opens on Monday.
Access Bank Plc, Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and Julius Berger Nig. Plc joined Meristem Growth Index as while BUA Cement Plc, Glaxo Smithkline Consumer Nig. Plc, Okomu Oil Plc and Wema Bank Plc are outing.
The Meristem Value Index has Dangote Sugar Plc and Total Plc are incoming, Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Dangote Cement Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc and UACN Property Development Company Plc as outgoing shares.
The indices were developed to allow investors to follow market movements and properly manage investment portfolios. Designed using the market capitalization methodology, the indices are rebalanced on a semi-annual basis on the first business day in January and in July.
The bourse began publishing the NSE 30 Index in February 2009 with index values available from January 1, 2007. On July 1, 2008, the NSE developed five sectoral indices with a base value of 1,000 points, designed to provide investable benchmarks to capture the performance of specific sectors. The sectoral indices comprise the top fifteen most capitalized and liquid companies in the Insurance and Consumer Goods sectors; the top ten most capitalized and liquid companies in the Banking and Industrial Goods sector; and the top seven most capitalized and liquid companies in the Oil & Gas sector.
In July 2012, the Nigerian bourse launched The NSE Lotus Islamic Index (NSE LII) which consists of companies whose business practices are in conformity with Shari’ah Investment Principles, with the aim of increasing the breadth of the market and creating an important benchmark for investments as the alternative ethical and noninterest investment space widened. The companies that appear on the Islamic Index have been thoroughly screened by Lotus Capital Halal Investment, in accordance with a methodology approved by an internationally recognized Shari’ah Advisory Board comprising of renowned Islamic scholars.
