By Dipo Olowookere
The positive performance witnessed lately around the shares of Champion Breweries Plc continued last week with a price appreciation of 59.49 per cent. During the five-day trading session, the brewer closed at N3.11 per unit compared with N1.95 per unit it finished the earlier week.
This upward trajectory was sustained on the back of the demand for the shares of the company, following information that its major shareholder, Heineken International, which also controls a larger stake in Nigerian Breweries, increased its control in the firm with the purchase of N5 billion stocks.
This has pushed the appetite for the company’s equities higher because of what Heineken could transform the organisation into.
Also last week, news of the federal government putting down N10 billion for the manufacturer of COVID-19 vaccines in Nigeria triggered buying pressure on Fidson and May & Baker, pushing the value of their respective stock higher by 30.11 per cent and 27.40 per cent to N6.05 per share and N4.65 per share.
In the week, Portland Paints grew by 20.69 per cent to settle at N3.50 per unit, while Julius Berger appreciated by 19.84 per cent to close at N22.65 per unit.
At the close of transactions, a total of 41 equities appreciated in price, lower than 53 equities in the previous week.
Business Post reports that there were price losers in the week; 34, higher than 29 equities in the previous week.
Leading the chart was Veritas Kapital Assurance, which fell by 28.57 per cent to end at 20 kobo per share, Sovereign Trust Insurance went down by 21.21 per cent to settle at 26 kobo per share, Academy Press lost 17.50 per cent to close at 33 kobo per unit, Niger Insurance depreciated by 14.81 per cent to finish at 23 kobo per unit, while Universal Insurance dropped 13.04 per cent to trade at 20 kobo per unit.
When trading activities were wrapped up for the week, the All-Share Index (ASI) and the market capitalisation of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) appreciated by 3.442 per cent respectively to close the week at 42,412.66 points and N22.187 trillion.
Similarly, all other indices finished higher with the exception of the oil/gas, which depreciated by 7.25 per cent while the ASeM and Growth indices closed flat.
A total of 2.6 billion shares worth N27.9 billion in 31,466 deals were traded by investors on the floor of the exchange, in contrast to a total of 4.3 billion shares valued at N26.0 billion that exchanged hands in 32,849 deals.
The financial services industry led the activity chart with 1.5 billion shares valued at N12.7 billion traded in 14,324, contributing 58.22 per cent and 45.53 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
The conglomerates followed with 363.3 million shares worth N821.4 million in 1,722 deals, while consumer goods recorded a turnover of 220.8 million shares worth N4.0 billion in 5,952 deals.
Trading in Transcorp, Union Bank and Zenith Bank accounted for 633.3 million shares worth N5.6 billion in 3,947 deals, contributing 24.64 per cent and 20.20 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
Adedapo Adesanya