Unlisted Equities on NASD Lose N30m Friday

By Adedapo Adesanya

It was not a good day for the unlisted securities market in Nigeria on Friday as it depreciated marginally by 0.01 per cent at the close of business.

The slight decline printed by the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange came 24 hours after investors shunned the market for reasons best known to them.

Business Post observed that the loss recorded yesterday was partly influenced by FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc, which had a bad day.

The share price of the milk maker went down by 3 kobo or 0.02 per cent to close at N132 per unit compared to the N132.03 per unit it traded the previous day.

This made the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) go down by 0.04 points to settle for the day at 719.53 points as against 719.57 points it finished on Thursday.

In the same vein, the performance of the maker of the popular Peak Milk reduced the market capitalisation of the bourse by N30 million to N534.83 billion from the prior day’s N534.83 billion.

On the activity chart, the trading volume decreased by 98.1 per cent as 11,200 units of securities exchanged hands yesterday compared with the previous session’s 579,945 units.

Also, the value of transactions recorded on Friday decreased by 98.7 per cent to N1.1 million from N86.1 million recorded on Thursday.

In the same vein, the number deals executed by investors during the session went down by nine or 75 per cent to 3 deals from 12 deals executed the previous day.

The most active stock by volume (year-to-date) was ARM Life Plc and this was because it has traded 7.4 billion units worth N4.6 billion. Central Securities Clearing Systems (CSCS) Plc has transacted 204.6 million units worth N2.7 billion, while Food Concepts Plc has exchanged 152.1 million units for N109.4 million.

Also, ARM Life was the most traded stock by value (year-to-date) with the sale of 7.4 billion units of its securities worth N4.6 billion. Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc followed with 11.8 million units valued at N3.4 billion, while CSCS Plc was in third place after transacting 204.6 million units for N2.7 billion.