Nigerian Bank Nigeria First Bank of Nigeria Plc – First Bank Sustains Lead As Nigerias Most Capitalised Stock
Source The Guardian: Femi Adekoya, January 8th 2010
WITH a market capitalisation of N407.5 billion, First Bank of Nigeria Plc retained its status as the most capitalised listed equity for the month of December 2009 and the whole year.
The market capitalisation recorded in 2009 represents a decline of N117.3 billion or 22.4 per cent from the N524.8 billion recorded at the close of transactions in 2008.
The drop in the company’s capitalisation and other listed stocks may, however, be attributed to the global economic downturn that affected equities’ trading on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), thus leading to the fall in share prices of highly capitalised equities.
According to the NSE monthly report just released and obtained by The Guardian recently, the bank’s capitalisation rose by 0.4 per cent from N406.1 billion recorded in November, 2009, to N407.5 billion in December, followed by Nigerian Breweries Plc with a market capitalisation of N401 billion, up from N397.03 billion.
Similarly, three other stocks in the banking sub-sector made the top five most capitalised equities on the floor of NSE. Zenith Bank Plc ranked third with a rise of 4.1 per cent in market capitalisation from N328.3 billion in November to N341.6 billion, followed by Guaranty Trust Bank Plc with N289.1 billion, while United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) suffered a decline of 2.7 per cent.
On the month’s activity chart, UBA was the most active stock with transaction volume of 698.74 million shares, followed by Guaranty Trust Assurance Plc with 687.15 million shares, while First Bank of Nigeria Plc ranked third with 357.63 million shares.
Similarly, AIICO Insurance Plc occupied the fourth position, trading 333.43 million shares, while Guaranty Trust Bank Plc exchanged 312.9 million shares.
Trading on the stocks of the five most active stocks for the month accounted for 2.4 billion or 31.6 per cent of total transactions during the month under review.
In terms of market returns, the stock market recorded a negative monthly return of 3.73 per cent on dividend-adjusted basis, a reversal of the positive monthly return of 0.35 per cent in November. The yearly return was negative at 40.7 per cent.
Furthermore, eight sub-sectors recorded positive returns of between 0.0014 per cent and nine per cent during the month compared to three sub-sectors that recorded positive returns of between 0.75 per cent and 5.3 per cent in the preceding month.
Also, 23 sub-sectors recorded negative returns of between 0.97 per cent and 25.7 per cent compared to 28 sub-sectors that recorded negative returns of between 0.42 per cent and 19.1 per cent in November.
Meanwhile, 49 securities were delisted from the daily official list during the month.
For instance, the Nigerian International Debt Fund Plc was delisted from the equity section and moved to Memorandum Listing. The fund became open-ended as recommended by the fund manager and approved by the council of NSE.
Furthermore, four state governments’ bonds, 41 industrial loans and three preference stocks were delisted on maturity.
Nigerian Bank Nigeria First Bank of Nigeria Plc, GTB Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Nigerian Stock Exchange, UBA United Bank for Africa Plc, Zenith Bank Plc
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