Unlisted Securities Market Gains N54.4bn in One Week

By Adedapo Adesanya

The National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange appreciated by 5.60 per cent in the four trading sessions of last week.

This occurred at the bourse reached the N1 trillion valuation buoyed by the significant demand for the shares of FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc.

The firm had proposed to pay a dividend of N4.73 to shareholders for the 2021 financial year and this triggered an appetite for the company’s stocks at the unlisted securities market.

At the close of transactions in the week, FrieslandCampina gained 32.6 per cent to settle at N200 per unit compared with the previous week’s N150.85 per unit.

Also, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained 7.9 per cent to end at N17.10 per share versus the previous week’s N15.84 per share, while NASD Plc rose by 2.2 per cent to trade at N14.82 per unit in contrast to the earlier week’s N14.50 per unit.

However, the exchange recorded a price loser and it was Afriland Properties Plc, which dropped 0.9 per cent to trade at N1.08 per share as against the previous week’s N1.09 per share.

At the close of transactions, the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) jumped by 41.38 points to 780.25 points from 738.87 points, while the market capitalisation expanded by N54.4 billion to N1.03 trillion from the preceding week’s N971.52 billion.

Despite the growth posted by the market last week, there was a 33.1 per cent decrease in the total value of transactions to N149.1 million from N222.9 million, while the volume of trades increased by 6.9 per cent to 4.5 million units from 4.2 million units, with the number of deals increasing by 26.9 per cent to 118 trades from 93 trades of the previous week.

Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc was the most traded security by volume with 3.1 million units, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc traded 782,719 units, NASD Plc exchanged 299,000 units, CSCS Plc traded 151,750 units, while Afriland Plc sold 144,679 units.

In terms of the value of trades in the week, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc topped with N140.3 million, NASD Plc recorded N4.4 million, CSCS Plc traded N2.4 million, NDEP Plc posted N1.6 million, while IGI Plc had N262,017.

On a year-to-date basis, investors have transacted 3.0 billion units worth N16.6 billion in 760 deals at the NASD OTC exchange, with the NSI posting a year-to-date gain of 5.03 per cent.