Economy
Zenith Bank, MTN, 20 Others Bring Back Bulls to Stock Market
By Dipo Olowookere
The bulls made a return to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday after they were chased out by profit-takers, who brought in bears to devour the market.
At the equity market yesterday, gains in some large-cap stocks propelled the local bourse to a 0.38 per cent growth, which reduced the year-to-date loss to 4.92 per cent.
It equally boosted the All-Share Index (ASI) by 96.06 per cent to 25,520.97 points from 25,424.91 points and jerked up the market capitalisation by N50 billion to N13.314 trillion from N13.264 trillion.
Business Post observed that the growth witnessed yesterday was as a result of demand for the shares of some tier-one banks, which proposed the payment of interim dividend a few days ago.
As the qualification date for the cash reward is getting closer, dividend hunters have started to pick them up after their prices went low in the previous sessions.
At the close of business, Zenith Bank led the gainers’ chart, which had 22 members on Thursday, after adding 55 kobo to its share value to settle at N16.95 per unit.
MTN Nigeria gained 50 kobo to close at N120 per share, GTBank appreciated by 45 kobo to sell for N24.75 per unit, C&I Leasing improved by 30 kobo to trade at N3.85 per share, while Access Bank grew by 25 kobo to quote at N6.75 per unit.
On the losers’ log, which had 12 members, Seplat took the first spot after shedding N10 to close at N390 per share, while Fidson depreciated by 18 kobo to quote at N3.80 per share.
Custodian Investment declined by 15 kobo to sell for N4.80 per share, FCMB dropped 11 kobo to settle at N2.15 per share, while Africa Prudential decreased by 8 kobo to sell for N4.30 per share.
At the market on Thursday, a total of 236.5 million stocks worth N1.7 billion exchanged hands in 3,251 deals compared with the 269.6 million shares valued at N2.9 billion traded in 4,155 deals on Wednesday. This indicated 12.29 per cent decline in the trading volume, 42.62 per cent drop in the trading value and 21.76 per cent reduction in the number of deals yesterday.
Zenith Bank closed the session as the most active stock, transacting 33.2 million units worth N546.8 million, while Fidelity Bank traded 30.0 million shares valued at N52.7 million.
Mutual Benefits traded 25.0 million equities for N5.0 million, Wema Bank exchanged 20.2 million shares for N11.0 million, while FBN Holdings traded 20.1 million stocks for N100.3 million.
For the performance of the five major sub-sectors of the market, the banking space recorded the highest growth, rising by 2.28 per cent and was followed by the consumer goods counter, which gained 0.08 per cent and the industrial goods sector, which rose by 0.02 per cent.
The insurance index lost 1.66 per cent during the trading day, while the energy counter depreciated by 1.28 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of fast food brands like Chicken Republic and PieXpress, has disclosed plans to pay 10 Kobo in interim dividend to new and existing shareholders for the 2026 financial year.
This was disclosed by the company in a notice to the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange, where it trades its securities.
The notice indicated that the proposed interim dividend, which comes with no bonus, will be paid to those who hold the stocks of the company as of the qualification date for the dividend, which was Tuesday, March 24.
This means only those who hold the company’s shares as of the closing session will be eligible to receive the stipulated dividend payment.
The shareholders of the company will be credited with the 10 Kobo dividend on Tuesday, March 31.
The notice noted that the closure of the company’s register will be on Wednesday, March 25, through Friday, March 27, 2026, both days inclusive.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange dropped for the third consecutive session on Wednesday, March 18, by 0.39 per cent due to continued sell-offs.
In what would be the final trading session of the week due to public holidays on Thursday and Friday for Eid-el-Fitr, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) further dipped by 16.14 points to 4,114.75 points from 4,130.89 points, and the market capitalisation lost N9.66 billion to close at N2.461 trillion versus the previous day’s N2.471 trillion.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N10.32 to sell at N112.00 per share versus N122.32 per share, NASD Plc dropped N4.50 to finish at N41.50 per unit compared with the previous session’s N46.00 per unit, and Geo-Fluids decreased by 9 Kobo to N3.02 per share from N3.11 per share.
On the flip side, Air Liquide Plc improved by N2.23 to N24.57 per unit from N22.34 per unit, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc advanced by 90 Kobo to N76.33 per share from N75.43 per share, Food Concepts Plc rose by 24 Kobo to N3.30 per unit from N3.06 per unit, UBN Property Plc surged by 20 Kobo to N2.18 per share from N1.98 per share, Impresit Bakalori Plc jumped 16 Kobo to N1.83 per unit from N1.67 per unit, and First Trust Mortgage Bank Plc added 14 Kobo to trade at N1.89 per share versus N1.75 per share.
During the trading day, the volume of securities went up by 43,404.4 per cent to 400.8 million units from 921,265 units, the value of securities grew by 2,108.7 per cent to N1.2 billion from N54.7 million, and the number of deals soared by 23.7 per cent to 47 deals from 38 deals.
CSCS Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value (year-to-date) with 38.7 million units valued at N2.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units exchanged for N1.2 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 6.4 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
Resourcery Plc finished the session as the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.1 billion units worth N415.7 million, trailed by Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units sold for N1.2 billion, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 131.1 million units valued at N505.6 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) experienced a pullback of 0.69 per cent as a result of profit-taking by investors, with shares in the banking and energy sectors mostly affected.
Data harvested by Business Post showed that the energy index was down by 4.58 per cent during the session, and the banking space lost 2.14 per cent.
They brought down the All-Share Index (ASI) by 1,402.56 points to 201,156.85 points from 202,559.41 points and shrank the market capitalisation by N900 billion to N129.126 trillion from N130.026 trillion.
Customs Street ended in red at midweek despite three of the five key sectors finishing in green. The consumer goods counter expanded by 1.19 per cent, the industrial goods index improved by 0.46 per cent, and the insurance sector grew by 0.43 per cent.
Red Star Express declined by 9.98 per cent to N25.70, Aradel Holdings went down by 9.68 per cent to N1,210.30, Presco lost 9.30 per cent to trade at N1,701.10, Living Trust Mortgage Bank crashed by 8.40 per cent to N4.80, and DAAR Communications dropped 7.50 per cent to end at N1.85.
On the flip side, Secure Electronic Technology gained 10.00 per cent to settle at N1.32, Guinness Nigeria rose by 9.92 per cent to N423.20, John Holt increased by 9.72 per cent to N11.85, Sovereign Trust Insurance surged by 9.57 per cent to N2.06, and Linkage Assurance chalked up 9.33 per cent to trade at N1.64.
Investor sentiment was weak yesterday after the bourse registered 33 price gainers and 38 price losers, indicating a negative market breadth index.
Market participants bought and sold 6.1 billion stocks valued at N130.1 billion in 58,562 deals compared with the 1.8 billion stocks worth N88.1 billion traded in 62,654 deals on Tuesday, representing a shortfall in the number of deals by 6.53 per cent, and a spike in the trading volume and value by 238.89 per cent and 47.67 per cent apiece.
The most active equity on Wednesday was eTranzact with 5.2 billion units sold for N24.3 billion, Wema Bank exchanged 111.4 million units worth N3.1 billion, Coronation Insurance transacted 96.4 million units valued at N303.9 million, Dangote Cement traded 75.2 million units for N56.5 billion, and Access Holdings exchanged 61.5 million units valued at N1.6 billion.
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