NASD OTC Rises 0.42% as VFD Maintains Upward Movement

By Adedapo Adesanya

The proprietary investment company, VFD Group Plc, continued its impressive run at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Monday, April 12.

VFD Group Plc recorded another 10 per cent or N29.90 increase in value to close the session at N328.92 per unit compared to N299.02 per unit it closed last Friday.

The gains recorded by the stock helped the 0.42 per cent rise witnessed by the unlisted securities market yesterday, causing the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) to set a new year record high of 758.99 points.

This was so after the index added 3.15 points to its previous closing value of 755.84 points.

Also, the market capitalisation of the bourse increased on Monday by N2.23 billion to close at N539.49 billion in contrast to N537.26 billion it ended at the previous session.

Business Post reports that there were two price decliners yesterday led by Afriland Properties Plc, which dropped 6 kobo or 4.8 per cent to sell at N1.20 per share compared with the previous N1.26 per share. Geo Fluids Plc also went down by 5 kobo or 6.7 per cent to 70 kobo from 75 kobo.

During the session, there was a rise in the volume of securities traded by 1,384.8 per cent to 1.2 million units from 78,037 units recorded last Friday.

These shares were traded in six deals, 20 per cent higher than the five deals of the preceding trading session and they were executed on four companies, with VFD Group Plc accounting for two deals while Geo Fluids Plc, Afriland Properties Plc and Central Securities Clearing Systems (CSCS) Plc accounted for one deal apiece.

These transactions were worth N25.3 million, 11.9 per cent lesser than N22.6 million achieved at the final trading session of last week.

At the close of business, UBN Property Plc maintained its place as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) for trading 21.9 million units of its shares worth N24.6 million. CSCS Plc was in second place with 8.8 million units worth N136.7 million while FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc held the third position with 3.5 million units of its shares worth N435.4 million.

However, Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc remained as the most active stock by value (year-to-date) for transacting 2.2 million units of securities valued at N694.4 million. Friesland came next in line with 3.5 million units of its securities valued at N435.4 billion, while VFD Group Plc took the third spot with 1.2 million units valued at N212.4 million.