Dipo Olowookere
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Shareholders of FTN Cocoa Processors Plc, Japaul Gold and Ventures Plc and 51 others had reasons to smile last week at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
In the five-day trading week, the shares of these companies yielded bountiful returns and this gave holders of the securities to smile looking at their portfolios.
For FTN Cocoa, it appreciated by 40.91 per cent to close at 62 kobo per share, while Japaul gained 36.00 per cent to finish at 34 kobo per share.
Airtel Africa improved by 21.00 per cent in the week to end at N774.40 per share, AIICO Insurance gained 19.05 per cent to close at N1.25 per share, while Consolidated Hallmark Insurance appreciated by 15.38 per cent to finish at 30 kobo per share.
At the close of business, the market recorded 53 price gainers compared with the 13 price risers of the preceding week.
However, only 17 equities depreciated in price in the week in contrast to the 46 equities of the earlier week and on top of the chart was Axa Mansard Insurance, which lost 60.00 per cent and Business Post reports that this was as a result of the price adjustment for its bonus share. This made the share price to close at 92 kobo per share as against the previous week’s N2.30 per share.
NEM Insurance depleted by 47.23 per cent as a result of its price adjustment in the week for its bonus share, closing at N1.24 per share in contrast to the previous N2.35 per share.
Omatek Ventures lost 16.67 per cent in the week to finish at 20 kobo per share, International Breweries depreciated by 12.67 per cent to close at N6.27 per share, while Linkage Assurance dropped 10.00 per cent to close at 45 kobo per share.
In the week, the All-Share Index (ASI) and market capitalisation appreciated by 7.46 per cent to close the week at 36,804.75 points and N19.236 trillion respectively. Similarly, all other indices finished higher while the ASeM and NSE Growth indices closed flat.
On the activity chart, 1.9 billion shares worth N17.7 billion were traded in 20,660 deals during the week in contrast to the 2.3 billion shares valued at N21.0 billion traded the previous week in 23,722 deals.
It was gathered that the financial services industry led the activity chart with 1.5 billion shares valued at N8.4 billion traded in 10,834 deals, contributing 78.65 per cent and 47.52 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
The consumer goods sector followed with 107.0 million shares worth N2.4 billion in 3,447 deals, while the services sector closed with a turnover of 74.8 million shares worth N191.8 million in 448 deals.
Further analysis showed that Jaiz Bank, FBN Holdings and Niger Insurance were the most active with 761.9 million shares worth N1.5 billion in 1,395 deals, contributing 40.25 per cent and 8.32 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
