By Adedapo Adesanya
The market capitalisation of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange lost N8.68 billion on Friday, October 16 as the general performance of the unlisted securities market plunged by 1.62 per cent.
The reduction in the total value of securities on the exchange at the final trading session of the week was as a result of the heavy losses suffered by FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc.
The company, which was the day’s single price mover, slid by N8.89 or 7.11 per cent to close at N125.04 per share versus N133.93 per share it closed on Thursday.
It was the second day the stock price of the milk producer was depreciating at the market. The price of the company’s stock had risen in the past week to N140.49 per unit until recently when investors started to book profit.
Its performance today reduced the market capitalisation of the exchange to N526.63 billion from the previous session’s N535.31 billion.
Equally, it dropped the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) by 11.82 points to 716.92 points from the 728.74 points it closed on Thursday.
During the session, the trading value increased by 112.13 per cent to N27.5 million from N12.9 million, while the trading volume rose by 40.1 per cent to 219,000 units from 156,295 units.
However, the number of deals executed by investors pointed southwards by 76.9 per cent to three deals from 13 deals of the previous day.
The deals were executed on securities belonging to FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc (two deals) and the Niger Delta Exploration and Production Plc (one deal).
ARM Life Plc, at the close of business on Friday, remained as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 7.4 billion units of its shares traded for N4.6 billion. Central Securities Clearing Systems (CSCS) Plc trailed with 203.1 million units valued at N2.7 billion, while Food Concepts Plc was in third place after trading 128.1 million units worth N90.2 million.
In terms of the most traded equity by value (year-to-date), ARM Life Plc still maintained the top position for trading 7.4 billion units worth N4.6 billion. NDEP Plc trailed with 10.4 million units transacted for N3.2 billion, while CSCS Plc traded 203.1 million units worth N2.7 billion.
