By Dipo Olowookere
For several years, Dangote Cement Plc enjoyed the status of being the most capitalized stock on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), but when shares of MTN Nigeria Communications Plc were introduced into the nation’s bourse in May 2019, some observers knew it won’t take long for Dangote Cement to lose the position to the telco.
MTN Nigeria is known to dominate its environment and it was not a surprise when three months after its listing on the NSE, the company displaced the once ‘revered’ Dangote Cement from its exalted position.
Though Dangote Cement initially reclaimed its position hours after it lost it to MTN Nigeria, this was short-lived as the leading telecommunications firm bounced back and has since then tightened its grip on the post like an akagon.
A check by Business Post on the market value of the two movers and shakers of the nation’s stock market on Tuesday showed that Dangote Cement is on a distant second position.
From data sourced from the NSE, MTN Nigeria is leading Dangote Cement in terms of market capitalization by N205.0 billion as at the close of business today.
Business Post reports that while the market value of MTN Nigeria is N2.829 trillion, Dangote Cement is N2.624 trillion. The former has total shares outstanding of 20.355 billion, while the latter has total shares outstanding of 17.041 billion.
As at the close of transactions on Tuesday, shares of MTN Nigeria finished at N139 per unit after depreciating by N1 or 0.71 percent, while shares of Dangote Cement settled at N154 each after going down by 60 kobo or 0.39 percent.
Business Post reports further that at the market today, investors traded a total of 573,236 shares of MTN Nigeria worth N79.577 million, while 103,567 units of Dangote Cement stocks worth N15.937 million were transacted on the floor of the NSE.
