•Dangote Flour Gains 84.31%, As Dangcem Loses N187.445bn
It was a red April on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), as its basic indicators suffered hemorrhage with investors and traders reacting to the seemingly weak 2018 full year and 2019Q1 earnings seasons at a time the economy remains uninspiring and in dire need of a stimulant.
The month ended with stocks on the NSE shedding all of N713.375bn, or 6.11%, closing at N10.958tr, from its N11.672tr opening figure for the month; while the benchmark All-Share index shed all of 1,881.68 basis points, meaning that stocks on the NSE lost an average of 6.06% of their opening value at the end of that month.
The drop in capitalization is much more, considering the fact that Skypower Aviation Handling Company (Sahcol) listed its enter shares in issue during the month; just as Access Bank listed over six billion units in the aftermath of its business combination with Diamond Bank Plc.
ABC Transport suffered the deepest percentage cut in its opening price for the month, shedding 43.40% to close at 30 kobo; followed by Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN), which shed 29.65% despite the robust improvements in its first-quarter performance score-card. Although this has been linked to the fact that the growth in Q1 top and bottom-line did not significantly impact Earnings Per Share, hence the need to price its shares appropriately, a situation also blamed for the huge transaction volume, according to market feelers.
Union Diagnostics lost 23.33%, closing at 23 kobo; International Breweries shed N6.00 or 23.03%; Guinness Nigeria lost N13.85 or 22.18%; Beta Glass dropped N15.95 or 22.17%; Mcnichols fell by 21.43%; Ecobank Transnational Incorporate dropped by 20.83% (READ MORE); and Unilever Nigeria, 20.51%. Eterna Oil closed 16.98% down; GlaxoSmithKline followed with 16.67% on the back of its seemingly weak earnings (READ MORE); AG Leventis, 16.13%; Total Nigeria, 15.26%; Fidson Healthcare lost 15.15% of its share price; UACN, 13.13%; Oando, 12.39% (READ MORE); UBA, 11.69% (READ MORE); FBN Holdings, 10.98%; Berger Paints, 10.91%; and Royal Exchange Assurance, 10.34%; just as Okomu Oil dropped 10%; among others.
Other laggards during the month are: Guaranty Trust Bank, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria, Fidelity Bank, Honeywell Flour; Dangote Cement, the biggest company on the NSE (by market capitalization) lost N11 per share or 5.76%, resulting to a total N187.445bn cumulative drop in market capitalization in just one month. Others included Stanbic IBTC Holdings, Nestle Nigeria, Nigerian Breweries, Seplat Petroleum Development Company, Zenith Bank, Dangote Sugar, and Mobil Oil.
On the flip side, Chams gained the most for the month, chalking all of 150%; followed from afar by Dangote Flour Mills, which grabbed N8.40 per share or 84.31% on the back of its announced binding offer by Singaporean giant- Olam International to purchase its entire outstanding shares for N129.9bn; translating to N26 per share (READ MORE).
Japaul Oil gained 65%, closing at 33 kobo; First Alum grabbed 56.67%; Forte Oil (READ MORE), 27.44%; Sovereign Insurance, 20%; Caverton Offshore Support gained 19.28% helped by its promising Q1 earnings (READ MORE); Cadbury Nigeria grabbed 18%; Sterling Bank, 12.50%; Transnationwide Express, 11.59%; and BOC Gases, 9.76%; among others.