Economy
Nigerian Banks Lead In Equities’ N372b Loss
By Dipo Olowookere
Banking stocks suffered the most among 25 top losers in the equities’ market as share price decline left investors with a net capital loss of N372 billion.
There were 10 banking stocks among the top 25 that lost 30 per cent and above in the past eight months. Some of the top losers recorded as much as 60.1 per cent in equities price reduction.
Conversely, only one banking stock made the few top gainers’ within the period. Altogether, there are 15 banking stocks quoted on the Nigerian stock market.
Three other banking stocks recorded various gains, while a bank dropped by 12.3 per cent.
The Nation’s market intelligence at the weekend indicated that investors in banking stocks have suffered the highest losses with nearly three-quarters of quoted banking stocks running with double-digit losses. Losses in the banking sector generally significantly outweighed the overall market’s average loss, according to data review by The Nation.
The benchmark indices for the Nigerian stock market indicated eight-month average decline of 3.64 per cent, equivalent to a loss of N372 billion.
Aggregate market value of all quoted companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) closed August at N9.479 trillion as against its year’s opening value of N9.851 trillion. The All Share Index (ASI), which tracks prices at the Exchange, dropped to 27,599.03 points by the month-end as against its year’s opening index of 28,642.25 points.
Banking stocks were deep in the red with the troubled Skye Bank leading the top 25 losers with year-to-date loss of 60.13 per cent. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had sacked the board and management of Skye Bank over corporate governance issues. Diamond Bank followed with a loss of 54.35 per cent.
Other top losers in the banking sector included Ecobank Transnational Incorporate, -31.3 per cent; Fidelity Bank, -40.67 per cent; Sterling Bank, -49.18 per cent; Union Bank of Nigeria, -39.13 per cent; Unity Bank, -30.36 per cent; Wema Bank, -34.0 per cent; FBN Holdings, -40.53 per cent and FCMB Group, which market value had dropped by 39.64 per cent.
Stanbic IBTC Holdings meanwhile dropped by 12.3 per cent within the period.
While consolidation, steep price declines and emergence of highly capitalised non-bank stocks such as Dangote Cement had reduced the hitherto overwhelming dominance of the market by banking stocks, banking stocks still account for some 25 per cent of the total market value of the Nigerian equities market.
Head, financial advisory group, GTI Capital Group, Mr Kehinde Hassan, said the negative performance of the banking sector was weighing heavily on the overall market performance.
He noted that the unstable policy environment and the knee-jerk approach of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to regulatory decisions have compounded the tough operating environment for banks, many of which had warned of lower earnings due to the headwinds.
Only Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) ranked within the top gainers’ list with 8-month gain of 45.76 per cent. United Bank for Africa (UBA) meanwhile posted a heart-warming return of 28.7 per cent. Access Bank followed with 14 per cent while Zenith Bank, against all expectations, trailed with a modest gain of 6.05 per cent.
Other top losers for the period included Livestock Feeds, -33.1 per cent; UACN Property Development Company, -42.5 per cent; Honeywell Flour Mills, -35.12 per cent; Vitafoam Nigeria, -43.99 per cent; AIICO, -30.77 per cent; Union Homes and Savings, -39.24; Fidson Healthcare, -32 per cent; GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria, -45.88 per cent; Berger Paints, -31.1 per cent; Cement Company of Northern Nigeria, -35.8 per cent; Lafarge Africa, -40.1 per cent; Portland Paints and Products Nigeria, -53.2 per cent; Forte Oil, -47 per cent; Tourist Company of Nigeria, -43.1 per cent and Caverton Offshore Support Group, which lost 40.9 per cent.
Nigerian equities have writhed under sustained losses in the past 32 months. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities on the NSE closed 2015 at N9.851 trillion as against its opening value of N11.478 trillion for the year, representing a loss of N1.627 trillion. The ASI indicated a negative full-year average return of -17.36 per cent. The ASI closed 2015 at 28,642.25 points as against its opening index of 34,657.15 points.
The losses in 2015 worsened the downtrend that had in 2014 marked out Nigerian equities among the worst-performing stocks globally with average full-year decline of 16.14 per cent. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities had closed 2014 at N11.478 trillion as against its opening value of N13.226 trillion for the year, indicating a loss of N1.75 trillion during the year.
Altogether, investors have lost more than N3.75 trillion in the past 32 months as the stock market groaned under political tension, steep decline in crude oil prices, foreign exchange crisis, uncertain policies and other domestic and global macroeconomic concerns.
The second half of 2016 has however seen considerable share price recovery compared with the steep losses in the first half. In the first quarter alone, Nigerian equities had recorded a net loss of N1.15 trillion.
Notwithstanding the negative overall market situation, many stocks have posted substantial returns so far this year. Dangote Flour Mills, which saw the re-emergence of Aliko Dangote’s Dangote Industries Limited as the core investor, recorded the highest gain of 240.7 per cent. E-Tranzact followed with a gain of 97.4 per cent. United Capital returned 74.8 per cent while Total Nigeria posted eight-month return of 63.3 per cent. Other top gainers included Presco, 37.2 per cent; AG Leventis, 43.6 per cent; Union Dicon Salt, 39.3 per cent; Neimeth International Pharmaceutical, 32.6 per cent; DN Meyer, 30 per cent; Seplat Petroleum Development Company, 49.4 per cent; Eterna, 33.7 per cent and RAK Unity, a second-tier stock that posted a year-to-date return of 61.3 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of Geo-Fluids Plc and Afriland Properties Plc propelled the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange up 0.13 per cent on Friday, January 10.
Investors gained N1.4 billion during the trading session after the market capitalisation of the bourse ended at N1.053 trillion compared with the previous day’s N1.052 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) increased at the close of business by 4.07 points to wrap the session at 3,073.93 points compared with 3,069.86 points recorded at the previous session.
Geo-Fluids added 25 Kobo to its value to close at N4.85 per unit compared with the previous session’s N4.60 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc gained 24 Kobo to close at N16.25 per share versus Thursday’s closing price of N16.01 per share.
There was a 35.4 per cent fall in the volume of securities traded in the session as investors exchanged 4.3 million units compared to 6.6 million units traded in the preceding session, the value of shares traded yesterday went down by 37.4 per cent to N17.2 million from the N27.5 million recorded a day earlier, and the number of deals decreased by 47.2 per cent to 19 deals from the 36 deals recorded in the preceding day.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 1.9 million units worth N74.2 million, followed by 11 Plc with 12,963 units valued at N3.2 million, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI )Plc with 10.7 million units sold for N2.1 million.
IGI Plc closed the day as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 10.6 million units sold for N2.1 million, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 1.9 million units valued at N74.2 million, and Acorn Petroleum Plc with 1.2 million units worth N1.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira witnessed a depreciation on the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, January 10.
According to data from the FMDQ Exchange, the local currency weakened against the greenback yesterday by 0.12 per cent or N1.80 to sell for N1,543.03/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,541.23/$1.
The pressure on the domestic currency came as the access granted to the Bureaux de Change (BDC) operators by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to purchase FX from the official market through the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) platform prepares to end next week, precisely on January 19.
The CBN had given a 42-day window to the operators to access the platform to help stabilise the Naira in December, and this expires next week.
On Friday, the Nigerian currency tumbled against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N30.78 to sell for N1,889.29/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,858.51/£1, but gained N5.48 against the Euro to finish at N1,583.81/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s rate of N1,589.29/€1.
As for the parallel market, the Nigerian Naira remained stable against the US Dollar during the trading session at N1,650/$1, according to data obtained by Business Post.
In the cryptocurrency market, it was bearish as the US economy added 256,000 jobs last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday, topping forecasts for 160,000 and up from 212,000 in November (revised from an originally reported 227,000).
However, the readings came after a number of recent economic reports triggered a broad-market pullback across asset classes such as crypto as investors quickly scaled back the idea of a continued series of Federal Reserve rate cuts in 2025.
Cardano (ADA) fell by 3.6 per cent to trade at $0.921, Solana (SOL) slumped by 2.8 per cent to $185.93, Ethereum (ETH) depreciated by 1.4 per cent to $3,233.27, Litecoin (LTC) lost 1.3 per cent to finish at $103.62, Dogecoin (DOGE) shed 0.5 per cent to sell at $0.3315, Bitcoin (BTC), waned by 0.2 per cent to $94,154.43, and Binance Coin (BNB) went south by 0.1 per cent to $693.30.
On the flip side, Ripple (XRP) jumped by 1.5 per cent to settle at $2.34, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) sold flat at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
Profit-takers took control of Customs Street on Friday, plunging it by 0.08 per cent at the close of trading activities.
The sell-offs were across all the key sectors of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on last trading session of the week.
The insurance space went down by 1.53 per cent, the banking index depreciated by 0.41 per cent, the consumer goods sector weakened by 0.16 per cent, and the energy counter slumped by 0.08 per cent, while the industrial goods sector closed flat.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) tumbled by 79.68 points to 105,451.06 points from 105,530.74 points and the market capitalisation retreated by N48 billion to N64.303 trillion from N64.351 trillion.
Yesterday, investors traded 1.5 billion shares worth N19.4 billion in 12,877 deals compared with the 489.5 million shares worth N13.1 billion transacted in 13,010 deals in the preceding day, indicating a decline in the number of deals by 1.02 deals and a rise in the trading volume and value by 203.14 per cent and 48.09 per cent, respectively.
Wema Bank was the busiest stock with 976.2 million units valued at N9.8 billion, Tantalizers traded 53.0 million units worth 129.6 million, Universal Insurance sold 34.8 million units for N26.8 million, Access Holdings exchanged 33.9 million units valued at N843.8 million, and Nigerian Breweries traded 27.3 million units worth N873.3 million.
The heaviest loss was suffered by Sunu Assurances with a decline of 9.99 per cent to trade at N7.30, Eunisell shed 9.96 per cent to N17.35, SAHCO crumbled by 9.87 per cent to N30.15, DAAR Communications plunged by 9.28 per cent to 88 Kobo, and Sovereign Trust Insurance went down by 7.04 per cent to N1.32.
On the flip side, C&I Leasing gained 10.00 per cent to close at N4.51, Honeywell Flour appreciated by 9.99 per cent to N10.02, Trans Nationwide Express jumped by 9.89 per cent to N2.00, RT Briscoe rose by 9.83 per cent to N2.57, and Secure Electronic Technology grew by 9.46 per cent to 81 Kobo.
Business Post reports that the bourse ended with 33 price gainers and 25 price losers, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
-
Feature/OPED5 years agoDavos was Different this year
-
Travel/Tourism8 years ago
Lagos Seals Western Lodge Hotel In Ikorodu
-
Showbiz2 years agoEstranged Lover Releases Videos of Empress Njamah Bathing
-
Banking7 years agoSort Codes of GTBank Branches in Nigeria
-
Economy2 years agoSubsidy Removal: CNG at N130 Per Litre Cheaper Than Petrol—IPMAN
-
Banking2 years agoFirst Bank Announces Planned Downtime
-
Sports2 years agoHighest Paid Nigerian Footballer – How Much Do Nigerian Footballers Earn
-
Technology4 years agoHow To Link Your MTN, Airtel, Glo, 9mobile Lines to NIN