In the six years to June 2015, some largely capitalised stocks on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) displayed remarkable potency in terms of their price appreciation level, while others showed strength in their loss paths, BusinessDay investigations show.
At the Nigerian bourse, the NSE-30 Index tracks the performance of largely capitalised stocks in terms of their market capitalisation and liquidity. At interval s, the Exchange determines the stocks worthy to make up this basket.
While tracking the NSE-30 Index since 2009, its performance shows growth of 548.72points, from a low of 995.86points as at June 1, 2009 to 1,544.58 points recorded on June1, 2015. This implies that the Index grew remarkably, in excess of 50 percent within six years.
Further checks at the NSE show that as at January 19, 2009 NSE 30 Index stood at 676.22points; it stood at 1,136.27 points as at January 3, 2011; while on January 2, 2012 it closed at 931.70 points.
The largely capitalised stocks are: 7-Up Bottling Company plc, Access Bank plc, Cadbury Nigeria plc, Dangote Cement plc, Dangote Sugar Refinery plc, Diamond Bank plc, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated plc, FBN Holdings plc, FCMB Holdings plc, Flour Mills of Nigeria plc, Forte Oil plc, Guaranty Trust Bank plc, and Guinness Nigeria plc.
Others are: International Breweries plc, Julius Berger plc, Lafarge Africa plc, Mobil Oil Nigeria plc, Nestle Nigeria plc, Nigerian Breweries plc, Oando plc, PZ Cussons Nigeria plc, Stanbic IBTC Holdings plc, Total Nigeria plc, Transcorp plc, UAC of Nigeria plc, Unilever Nigeria plc, Union Bank of Nigeria plc, United Bank for Africa plc, Zenith Bank plc, and Seplat Petroleum Development Company plc.
Indications are that as liquidity flow around these stocks dictates the direction of the entire stock market performance; most largely capitalised stocks still play the downbeat role at the Nigerian bourse following sell pressure that weighs on these stocks.
Our trend watch shows 7-Up Bottling Company plc closed at N178.1 on Friday June 12, 2015 from N39 as at Tuesday June 3, 2009. Access Bank plc dipped from N10.31 on June 3, 2009 to N6.1.
Forte Oil plc which stood at N90 as at June 3, 2009 closed last week Friday at N 173; while in the same period, FBN Holdings plc dropped from N23.76 to N8.92. FCMB Holdings plc declined from N8.45 to N3.07; Guaranty Trust Bank plc rose from N14.59 to N26.6.
Market analysts believe that as the dearth of investor-motivating news continues to affect stocks, the low ebb of most of the counters will still drive discerning investors to engage in bargain hunting, pushing stocks out of bearish mood in the near term.
“The equities market still reflects weak sentiment, driven by uncertainties trailing the economy and financial markets. While we expect cautious and speculative trading to guide market performance, we think a lucid direction of the economy and financial markets via policy statement and key appointments by the new government will be a game changer for the market”, said research analysts at Lagos-based United Capital plc.
With the same six year period, Cadbury Nigeria plc has risen from N17 to N39.9; Dangote Sugar Refinery plc dropped from N23.42 to N6.6; Diamond Bank declined from N10.44 to N4.2; Flour Mills of Nigeria plc declined from N37.8 to N34.99; while Guinness Nigeria plc rose from N118.19 to N158.85.
In addition, International Breweries plc which closed last Friday at N20.01 stood at N3.42 as at June 3, 2009; while in the same six-year period, Julius Berger plc rose from N39.79 to N52.39. Lafarge Africa plc which closed last Friday at N99.1 rose from N26.78 recorded six years ago.
Currently at the Nigerian Stock Exchange, investors remain tentative on buying stocks, siting uncertainty in new government’s policy direction. Though, some investors are taking long term positions in value stocks as market sentiment remains weak.
As at January 7, 2013, the NSE-30 index stood at 1,380.09 points; January 6, 2014 (1,906.66points); and January 5, 2015 (1,426.07 points). Year-to-Date (YtD) return of the NSE All Share Index (ASI) is in excess of -3%. The NSE ASI closed Friday at 33,621.75 points from January 5, 2009 and July 7, 2009 level of 29,510.28 points and 25,026.03 points respectively.
Further check shows Mobil Oil Nigeria plc rallied from N110 to N148 within six years; Nestle Nigeria plc rose from N180 to N857.51; Nigerian Breweries plc moved up from N51.15 to N 150.16; Oando plc declined from N95 on June 3, 2009 to N16.9 at the close of transactions last Friday.
PZ Cussons Nigeria plc closed Friday at N35 from N21.74 in the corresponding period of 2009; Stanbic IBTC Holdings plc stood at N27 last Friday from N9.94 in comparable period of 2009; Total Nigeria plc rose from N150 in 2009 to N159.99 last Friday.
In the same period, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria plc also appreciated from N0.52 to N2.85; UAC of Nigeria plc rose to N41.5 from N39; Unilever Nigeria plc rose from N14.71 to N45.5; Union Bank of Nigeria plc declined to N10 from N18.82 in comparable period of 2009; United Bank for Africa plc dipped to N5.2 from N17.50; while Zenith Bank plc declined from N29 to N19.88 at the close of deals last Friday.
Iheanyi Nwachukwu
