Despite mixed trading sessions seen in the stock market at the beginning of this year, it still closed January in green by +1.53percent, while investors booked N1.95trillion as capital appreciation.
Investors were bullish and showed interests in value stocks across telecoms, banking, industrial good, consumer goods, agricultural, oil & gas, conglomerates, insurance, services, natural resources/utilities, ICT, healthcare, and construction/real estate.
SCOA, Honeywell, University Press, Trans-Nationwide Express surpassed 40%
Some stocks rallied by over 40 percent as seen in their prices as at last trading day in the review month. For instance, investors in shares of SCOA made the most gain as the share price rose by 97.57 percent in one month.
Another stock investors made money in January is Honeywell Flourmills Plc which was up in the review month by 52.06percent. It was followed by University Press Plc which increased by 45.45 percent, and Trans-Nationwide Express Plc which was up by 44.93 percent in just one month into the year.
From year-open lows of 102,926.4 points and N62.763 trillion respectively, the NGX All Share Index (ASI) and equities market capitalisation closed January at 104,496.12 points and N64.708trillion.
“We expect the local bourse to perform bullish this week, fuelled by strong interest in solid stocks and dividend positioning,” Futureview research analysts said in their February 4 stock recommendation.
Meanwhile, they noted that the market’s bullish performance was driven by strong earnings reports and the listing of additional shares in the banking sector, “as investors positioned themselves ahead of anticipated dividend payouts”.
Vitafoam, NNFM, Africa Prudential, and Multiverse rose by over 30%
Further look at the stock price list as at January 31 shows that Vitafoam Nigeria Plc was up by 38.91 percent, followed by Northern Nigeria Flour Mills (NNFM) which increased by 38.04percent in one month. Also, the share price of Multiverse Mining and Exploration rose by 36.73percent, while Africa Prudential increased in the same review period by 30.41percent.
Earlier this week, Lagos-based Meristem research analysts said they expect the stock market to close the week on a positive note, “supported by increased bargain hunting as investors take advantage of fundamentally strong stocks now trading at attractive levels”.
While acknowledging the potential for profit-taking on tickers that have recorded gains in recent weeks, Meristem research analysts noted that renewed interest in undervalued equities should drive market activity, “with investors strategically positioning in stocks with solid fundamentals”.
Livestock Feeds, Wema, MTNN, Presco, and others up by over 20%
Stocks that rose by over 20 percent in January include Livestock Feeds which were cent 28.64 per cent, while Wema Bank rallied by 25.82 per28.64 per century. MTNN also advanced remarkably by 25 percent in one month. Further check shows that PPresper’scente price increased by 23.16 per cent, while Presco’s share price increasedby16 by per cent in January. Likewise, CAP was up thin in the same period by 23.68 percent, NASCON moved up by 21.21 percent, while Trper centre rose by 20.49 percent.
Per centres equities market sustained per centing streak as investors took positions ahead of the earnings season,” Coronation research analysts said in their February 3 note.
FCMB, Skyway Aviation, UPDC, Unilever, NEM, and others are up by over 10%
Looking at the banking sector, majority of the stocks appreciated by over 10 per cent in January. For instance, FCMB Group was up by 17.55per cent, Fidelity Bank (+11.14percent), Stanbic (+11.72percent), Zenith Bank (+11.21percent), and UBA (+10.88percent). For industrial goods stocks, Beta Glass advances by 10.17 per cent.
In the Consumer Goods sector, Unilever went up by 15.33 percent in on month, Nestle (+11.43 percent), Nigerian Breweries (+11.88percent), and Dangote Sugar (+10.77percent). Eterna (+13.58percent) rallied most in the Oil & Gas sector. Another look at the agricultural sector shows share price of Okomu Oil Palm increased by 10 percent in January.
“Looking forward, the equities market is expected to maintain its positive momentum as investors continue to position themselves ahead of the FY-2024 earnings season and possible corporate action declarations. Nevertheless, given the elevated interest rate environment in the fixed-income market, we still expect bearish sentiments to linger in the background,” according to United Capital Research analysts in their February 3 note to investors.
The share price of another conglomerate – UACN was up by 14.47 percent in January. NEM Insurance led other insurance sector stocks after rising by 19.18 percent in January. It was followed by Linkage Assurance (+16.95percent), AIICO (+13.29percent), AXA Mansard (+12.44 percent), Coronation Insurance (+11.11 percent), and Custodian Investment (+10.53percent).
Other stocks investors recorded over 10 percent return in January include United Capital (+10.29percent), UPDC (+17.61 percent), Neimeth (+15.72percent), Secure Electronic Technology Plc (+11.11percent), NAHCO (+19.22percent), Red Star (+13.38percent), RT Briscoe (+14 percent), and Skyway Aviation Handling Company (+19.58 percent).
