Despite UBN, Friesland Gains, NDEP Drags NASD Down by 0.19%

By Adedapo Adesanya

It was a negative outcome for the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange at the final session for the second trading week of the year.

On Friday, the unlisted securities market was thrust into a 0.19 per cent depreciation on the back of a loss suffered by Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc.

The share price of the oil and gas investment company depreciated by 4.3 per cent or N15 to wrap the day at N335.00 per share in contrast to N350 per share it ended at the preceding session.

This was responsible for the N1.04 billion decline in the market capitalisation of the bourse yesterday, which closed at N530.99 billion compared with N532.02 billion it quoted on Thursday.

The bearish performance of NDEP also decreased the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 1.43 points to 740.04 points from 741.47 points of the preceding session.

Despite the negative outcome of the market, there were two price gainers yesterday; FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc and UBN Property Plc but they could not overcome the loss of NDEP Plc.

FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc appreciated by N1.39 or 1.1 per cent to trade at N131.75 per share versus N130.36 per share it ended the preceding session, while UBN Property gained 6 kobo or 5 per cent to quote at N1.26 per share in contrast to N1.20 per share it traded a day earlier.

In terms of the volume of securities traded at the bourse on Friday, investors exchanged 3.2 million units, 9,163.3 per cent higher than the 35,000 units of securities transacted by market participants on Thursday.

Likewise, there was a rise in the value of shares traded yesterday, by 146.2 per cent to N11.2 million from the N4.6 million achieved the previous day.

In addition, the number of deals executed by investors on Friday grew by 11.1 per cent as 10 deals were carried out at the final session of the week in contrast to the nine deals executed on Thursday.

UBN Property Plc closed as the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 4.8 million units valued at N5.9 million. It is followed by NDEP Plc, which has traded 205,650 units worth N71.9 million, and FrieslandCampina WAMCO Plc, which has sold 104,258 units worth 13.8 million.

However, NDEP Plc ended the session as the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 205,650 units worth N71.9 million. FrieslandCampina has traded 104,258 units worth N13.8 million, while UBN Property Plc has traded 4.8 million units valued at N5.9 million.