CSCS, Friesland Grow NASD OTC Market Cap to N666.06bn

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) returned from a two-day break with a 2.1 per cent appreciation to push its market capitalisation to N666.06 billion on Thursday.

At the previous trading day, which was on Monday, the total value of securities on the alternative bourse stood at N652.58 billion, indicating that it increased by N13.48 billion yesterday.

Also, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.5 points to wrap the session at 766.31 points compared with 750.81 points recorded at the previous session.

The growth witnessed during the session was boosted by Central Securities Clearing Systems (CSCS) Plc and FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc.

CSCS Plc ended the session with a 6.7 per cent or N1.28 increase to settle at N19 per share compared with the previous N17.72 per share.

On its part, Friesland closed the day with a 5.8 per cent or N7.37 growth to finish at N120.63 per unit in contrast to N128 per unit it ended at the preceding session.

However, the unlisted securities market recorded a price decliner on Thursday and this was Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc, which lost 0.4 per cent or 6 kobo to sell at N17.18 per unit compared to N17.24 per unit of the prior session.

At the market on Thursday, the volume of shares traded by investors reduced by 28.5 per cent to 2.6 million units from 3.6 million units, while the value of stocks transacted went down by 25.7 per cent to N46.5 million from N62.6 million, with the number of deals rising by 18.2 per cent to 26 deals from 22 deals.

Geo Fluids Plc sustained its hold as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with the sale of 1.0 billion units of its shares for N700.1 million. NGX Group Plc trailed with 345.9 million units valued at N7.4 billion, while Swap Technologies & Telecomms Plc held third place with 46.6 million units worth N41.0 million.

At the other side, NGX Group was the most active stock by value (year-to-date) for transacting 345.9 million securities worth N7.4 billion, VFD Group Plc remained in the second spot with 4.1 million units worth N1.3 billion, while the third position was held by Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc with 3.2 million units valued at N974.2 million.