Despite suffering a string of setbacks in the final trading sessions of the month, including shedding 0.65% on Friday, the basic indicators of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), closed at 28,843.53 basis points, gaining 2,001.46bps or 7.45% in the month of January 2020.
Market capitalization for the period however soared by N1.898tr, or 14.65%, closing at N14.857tr, the difference being last month’s listing of 33.864bn units Of Bua Cement Plc, following the delisting of the entire shares of Cement Company of Northern Nigeria. The listing, the outcome of a merger between BUA and CCNN, added N1.3tr to the NGSE’s market capitalization (READ MORE).
The NSE’s Premium index recorded the highest rise during the month, gaining 15.49%; followed by the NSE Industrial Goods’ 14.39%; followed by the 10.08% climb by the NSE Lotus Islamic Index; NSE 30, 8.25%; NSE 50, 5.22%; NSE Insurance Index, 4.91%; NSE Banking, 4.75%; and NSE Pension, 3.31.
On the flip side, the NSE Consumer Goods index, suffered the biggest loss of 5.79%; followed by the NSE Oil and Gas index’s 4.19%; just as the NSE Mainboard lost 0.35%.
Law Union & Rock Insurance recorded the biggest gain for the month, as its share price rose by 20 kobo, or 40%, closing at 70 kobo; followed by 31.11% rise in the price of Cornerstone Insurance; ahead of the 30.11% gain by Beta Glass as it closed the month at N16.20 better.
Dangote Cement, however, lifted the NSE market capitalization the most, as it climbed 26.69% from the year’s N142 per share to N179.90 on the recent approval by the shareholders of the board’s proposal to embark on scheme that will see the company buy-back up to 10% of its share in issue (READ MORE).
Vitafoam Nigeria chalked 25%; C & I Leasing, 24.58%; Okomu Oil, 22.3%; Jaiz Bank, 16.13%; NASCON Allied, 15.83%; African Prudential, 15%; Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, 14.62%; just as MTN Nigeria chalked 13.9%; Forte Oil, 13.81%; Julius Berger, 13.07%; May & Bakers, 12.44%; Zenith Bank, 12.1%; UBA, 11.89%; and Flour Mills, 11.68%; among others.
Eterna suffered the biggest loss for the month, after shedding 33.33%; Unilever Nigeria shed 31.82% in apparent investor reaction to its recently published unaudited 2019Q4 report, the highlight of which was the 34% drop in turnover and N4.223bn after-tax loss, compared to the previous N10.028bn profit (READ MORE). ABC Transport, 24.44%; BOC Gases, 18.18%; Fidson Healthcare, 16.13%; Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals, 11.29%; GlaxoSmithKline Consumer, 10.66%; PZ Cussons, 9.73%; and Unity Bank, 9.38%; among others.