Stock market closes the year positive, up by 19.98 per cent y/y

By Philemon Adedeji

Federal Government of Nigeria declared Monday 26th and Tuesday 27th December 2022 a Public Holiday to mark the Christmas celebration, that is why trading take place only in three days last week as the year ended on a positive note, amid bullish sentiments in medium and large capitalized stocks.

The All-Share Index gained 1544.97 absolute points representing 1.89 per cent to close at 51,251.06 index points. The overall market was driven by gains in Airtel Africa (+9.88 per cent), Geregu (+6.66 per cent) and Presco (+10.00 per cent) as investors begin to take positions ahead of Financial Year 2022 earning season.

Having gained in all five trading sessions this week, the ASI closed 3.59 per cent higher w/w.

In summary, the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) finished the year, up 19.98 per cent Year-on-Year (Y-o-Y) the third consecutive annual gain, while the Market Capitalization appreciated by 3.11 per cent to close the week at 51,251.06 and N27.915 trillion respectively.

A total turnover of 1.880 billion shares worth N18.988 billion in 12,036 deals was traded this week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 860.933 million shares valued at N16.134 billion that exchanged hands last week in 14,502 deals.

The Financial Services Industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 1.719 billion shares valued at N8.755 billion traded in 6,172 deals; thus contributing 91.42 per cent and 46.11 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

The Conglomerates Industry followed with 27.506 million shares worth N79.195 million in 355 deals. The third place was the Oil and Gas Industry, with a turnover of 24.367 million shares worth N2.203 billion in 758 deals.

Trading in the top three equities namely Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, Veritas Kapital Assurance Plc and FBN Holdings Plc (measured by volume) accounted for 1.149 billion shares worth N3.469 billion in 295 deals, contributing 61.11 per cent and 18.27 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

The NGX Sector Indices revealed that NGX Oil and Gas was the best performer gaining 34.60 per cent, followed by NGX Industrial (+19.67 per cent), NGX Pension (+5.38 per cent), NGX Banking (+5.84 per cent) and NGX 30 (+5.38 per cent) while NGX Consumer goods (-0.15 per cent) and NGX Insurance (-12.34 per cent) were the laggards.

Similarly, all other indices finished higher with the exception of NGX Banking, NGX AFR Bank Value, NGX MERI Growth and NGX MERI Value indices which depreciated by 1.25 per cent, 0.44 per cent, 0.43 per cent and 0.02 per cent respectively, while the NGX ASeM and NGX Sovereign Bond indices closed flat.

On the performance table, Computer Warehouse Group led as the overall price gainer which rose from N0.77 to N1.01 per share, up by 31.17 per cent, followed by Geregu Power which moved from N115.50 to N149.00, up by 29 per cent, while Wema Bank grew significantly from N3.22 to N3.90, up by 21.12 per cent.

Cornerstone Insurance rose from N0.50 to N0.60, up by 20 per cent and Thomas Watt Nigeria grew from N0.81 to N0.97, up by 19.75 per cent.

On the Negative Side, Livestock Feeds emerged as the overall best loser which dipped by 8.40 per cent to close at N1.09 per share, First Bank Holding of Nigeria depreciated by 7.63 per cent to close at N10.90 per share, while Fidelity Bank dropped by 6.45 per cent to close at 4.35 per cent to close at N4.35 per share.

Vitafoam diminished by 5.98 per cent to close at N20.45 per share and Courtville Business Solution lost 4.17 per cent to close at N0.46 per share.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), of Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), Temi Popoola commented on the results that ended the year on impressive performance that “It’s been a fantastic year for NGX, with a positive 19.98 per cent return.”