Friesland, CSCS Weaken NASD OTC Market by 1.85%

By Adedapo Adesanya

FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc and Central Securities Clearing Systems (CSCS) Plc both allowed the bears to rip NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange apart by 1.85 per cent on Tuesday, December 7.

The performance of the two stocks depleted the market capitalisation of the NASD OTC market by N11.41 billion to N604.45 billion from N615.86 billion it quoted at the previous session.

Consequently, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) plunged at the close of business by 13.82 basis points to end the day at 731.62 points as against 745.44 points it recorded on Monday.

Friesland lost N9.20 or 8.2 per cent yesterday to settle at N121.00 per unit compared with the preceding session’s N111.80 per unit, while CSCS Plc went down by 50 kobo or 2.9 per cent to sell at N17.00 per share in contrast to N17.50 per share it finished a day earlier.

However, there was a price gainer at the close of the market on Tuesday and this was NASD Plc, which went up by 16 kobo or 0.6 per cent to trade at N27.15 per unit versus the previous day’s N26.99 per unit.

At the market on Tuesday, investors exchanged a total of 694,849 units of securities as against the 158,770 units of securities transacted on Monday, indicating a 337.7 per cent rise.

In the same pattern, stocks worth N22.0 million were traded by market participants yesterday, 2,085.2 per cent more than the N1.0 million worth of shares traded at the previous session.

Also, the number of deals carried out during the trading day appreciated by 166.7 per cent to 16 deals from the six deals executed at the preceding day.

Food Concepts Plc maintained its position as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 11.4 billion units of its shares worth N14.4 billion. Lighthouse Financial Services Plc followed with 1.1 billion units valued at N546.2 million, while Geo Fluids Plc was in third place with 1.0 billion units worth N700.1 million.

Also, Food Concepts Plc remained as the most active stock by value (year-to-date) for transacting 11.4 billion units for N14.4 billion, followed by the now-exited Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc with 456.5 million units valued at N9.2 billion, and VFD Group Plc with 10.4 million units worth N3.5 billion.