NASD Investors Helpless as N15bn Vamooses in One Week

By Adedapo Adesanya

Investors at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange were helpless last week as they watched N15 billion vamoose from their portfolio.

At the 21st trading week of the year, four companies cut down the market capitalisation of the exchange to N534.74 billion from N549.74 billion.

In the same vein, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) reduced by 21.09 points or 2.73 per cent to settle for the week at 752.3 points in contrast to the previous week’s 773.39 points.

In the week, Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc went down by 9.6 per cent to close at N21.17 per share compared with the previous closing price of N23.42.

Also, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Plc lost 9.5 per cent to trade at N121.23 per unit in contrast to N133.88 per unit it earlier finished, Niger Delta Exploration & Production (NDEP) Plc went down by 3.2 per cent to N292.48 per share from N302.01 per share, while Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) Plc fell by 0.4 per cent to N17.53 per unit from N17.60 per unit.

Business Post reports that there was no price gainer in the week but on the activity chart, the value of transactions increased by 2.3 per cent to N744.3 million from N727.3 million.

However, the volume of the trades decreased by 26.3 per cent to 24,815,257 units from 33,678,532 units, while the number of deals increased by 4.9 per cent to 234 deals from the previous week’s 223 deals.

NGX Group was the most traded security by volume with 21.7 million units, followed by CSCS Plc with 1.2 million units, Friesland with 1.2 million units, Lighthouse Financial Services Plc with 425,000 units and NDEP Plc with 305,555 units.

Also, NGX Group was the most active stock by value in the week with N480.6 million, followed by Friesland with N150.5 million, NDEP with N92.4 million, CSCS Plc with N20.6 million and Lighthouse Financial Services Plc with N212,500.

At the close of transactions last week, the unlisted securities market has increased by 1.4 per cent on a year-to-date (YtD) basis, while investors have traded 356.1 million units worth N7.9 billion in 1,874 deals.