Unlisted Securities Bleed as Investors Lose N20.3bn in One Week

By Adedapo Adesanya

The 11th week of trading at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange ended on a bearish note with a decline of 3.3 per cent at the close of business last Friday.

This significantly affected investors of unlisted securities in the week and their wealth went down by N20.3 billion as the market capitalisation closed at N601.38 billion compared with N621.67 billion of the preceding week.

Business Post reports that the NASD Securities Exchange Index also depleted in the week by 23.97 points to close at 710.19 million in contrast to 734.16 points of the previous week.

The losses were buoyed by three market bellwether stocks, which pointed southwards, with Niger Delta Exploration and Production Plc losing 9.8 per cent to close at N180.38 per unit compared with the previous closing value of N200.00 per unit.

Also, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc depreciated by 8.8 per cent to sell for N114.10 per share as against N125.16 per share, while Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by 7.6 per cent to quote at N17.00 per share in contrast to N18.40 per share.

Conversely, NASD Plc gained 9.6 per cent week-on-week to finish at N11.45 per share versus N10.45 per share, while UBN Property Plc also rose by 9.6 per cent to close the week at N1.26 per unit compared with the previous close of N1.15 per unit.

Last week, the value of securities transacted by market participants decreased by 51.63 per cent to N68.8 million from N158.6 billion, the volume shrank by 32.97 per cent to 7.1 million units from 10.7 million units, while the number of deals improved by 31.43 per cent to 46 deals from 35 deals.

AG Mortgage Bank Plc was the most traded stock by volume in the week with 4.1 million units, CSCS Plc traded 1.9 million units, NASD Plc exchanged 500,000 units, UBN Property Plc recorded 400,000 units, while Nipco Plc transacted 138,105 units.

However, CSCS Plc ended the week as the most active stock by value with N32.4 million, NDEP Plc traded N12.7 million, Nipco Plc transacted N8.6 million, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc sold N6.6 million, while NASD Plc traded N5.7 million.

On a year-to-date basis, investors have transacted 738.3 million shares worth N15.0 billion in 500 deals, while the exchange has recorded a year-to-date loss of 4.55 per cent.