Nigeria Content Online

Following the
recent acquisition of billions of shares of the Transnational
Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) by Heirs Holdings, an investment
company, some investors are now “taking position” in the conglomerate’s
stock.

Transcorp’s shares
were the most traded stock at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on
Tuesday with over 54.208 million volume of shares traded, while the
share price rose by 4.61 per cent to close at N1.59 per share.

Olugbenga Emmanuel,
a finance analyst at WealthZone Company, a portfolio management firm,
said, “The stock (Transcorp’s shares) is presently attractive because
of the development in the company. A new board member is expected in
the company to turn around activities,” adding that “retail investors
are currently taking position in the stock for better reward.”

Market rebounds

The market capitalisation of equities at the close of trading session on Tuesday rebounded marginally by 0.03 per cent.

The NSE market
capitalisation of the 194 First-Tier equities closed yesterday at
N7.885 trillion after opening the day at N7.883 trillion, reflecting N2
billion gains. The market had lost over N19 billion after Monday’s
transaction.

The number of
gainers on Tuesday closed higher at 31 stocks compared to the 25 stocks
recorded on Monday, while losers closed at 26 stocks; the same figure
recorded the previous trading day.

May & Baker
Nigeria and Airline Services & Logistics topped the price gainers’
table with an increase of five per cent each, to close at N4.20 and
N1.89 per share, respectively. International Breweries and First
Aluminium followed on the gainers’ table with an increase of 4.86 and
4.84 per cent, to close at N6.47 and 65 kobo per share.

On the losers’
side, UAC Property, Costain West Africa, and National Nigeria Flour
Mill led the price losers’ chart with a loss of five per cent each, to
close at N15.20, N5.32 and N19.97 per share. Glaxo Smithline Consumer
followed with a loss of 4.98 per cent, to close at N27.08 per share.

The Exchange
yesterday marked down the prices of Access Bank and Unilever stocks for
final dividend of 30 kobo and N1.10 per share respectively, as proposed
by the companies’ managements.

At the close of
trading yesterday, the Banking subsector led the most active
subsector’s chart with 199.381 million quantities of shares, valued at
N1.903 billion. Volume in the subsector was largely driven by Zenith
Bank, followed by Stanbic IBTC, Guaranty Trust, Skye, and Access Bank.

The Conglomerates
subsector was second in the most active subsectors’ chart with 55.346
million volumes of shares, valued at over N119.432 million. Transcorp,
the most traded stock for the day, largely boosted volume in the
subsector, followed by UAC Nigeria and Unilever.

Trading activities
in the Insurance subsector was third in the chart. Investors in the
sector exchanged 6.885 million volumes of shares, valued at N6.795
million. Deals in shares of Aiico Insurance, Law Union & Rock
Insurance, and Custodian & Allied Insurance boosted volume in the
subsector.

Meanwhile, the
management of the NSE yesterday reiterated its position on the
execution of “large volume/block divestment transactions” by
stockbroking firms.

The NSE, in a
statement said, “Broker must write to seek approval in writing and
explain the intention behind the transaction” while such application
“must be supported with mandates from both the buyer(s) and the
seller(s).”

This was in response to the controversy generated last week by the purchase of shares of Transcorp by Heirs Holdings.