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Following
the cash payment which the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC), bottlers of
Coca Cola and other drinks, proposed to pay its shareholders as
compensation for the planned delisting exercise, the demand for the
stock has increased, hence, pushing up its value significantly.

The
price, which was N30.03 per share before the announcement was made on
Tuesday, now stands at N34.75 per share as at Thursday, representing an
increase of 15.72 percent in two days.

While
some market watchers suggested that the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE)
should have placed the company’s share on “technical suspension” to
protect price movement on the stock, the spokesperson for the NSE, Wole
Tokede, said he was not sure if the Exchange is considering that option.

The
management of the NBC had, on Tuesday, notified the Exchange of its
“proposed scheme of arrangement between the company and its members,
involving a cancellation of part of its share capital.”

The proposed scheme envisaged a cash payment of N43 per NBC share as consideration to the minority shareholders.

Market declines

Meanwhile,
the Exchange market capitalisation of the 201 first-tier equities
closed on Thursday at N7.807 trillion after opening the day at N7.830
trillion, reflecting 0.29 percent decline or N23 billion losses. The
market had gained N65 billion after Wednesday’s trading session.

The
NSE All-Share Index also lost 0.29 percent or 72.26 units on
Wednesday’s figures of 24,511.04 basis points, to close yesterday at
24,438.78. Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Dangote Sugar, and United
Bank for Africa were the most traded stocks on Thursday.

Gainers increase

A
total of 34 stocks appreciated in price on Thursday, higher than the 25
gainers recorded the previous day, while 28 stocks depreciated in
value; same as recorded on Wednesday. UAC Nigeria and Nigerian Bottling
Company topped the price gainers’ table with an increase of N1.80 and
N1.65 on their opening prices of N36.16 and N33.10 per share
respectively. Ashaka Cement and Flour Mills Nigeria followed in the
chart with an increase of N1.22 and N1.21, to close at N25.72 and
N68.01 per share.

On
the losers’ side, Dangote Cement and MRS Oil led the price losers’
chart with a loss of N4.25 and N3.50, to close at N120.25 and N66.56
per share respectively. Nigerian Breweries and Okomu Oil followed with
a decrease of 84 kobo and 69 kobo on their initial prices of N76.00 and
N13.90 per share respectively.

Active subsectors

Trading
activities in the Banking subsector maintained lead as the most active
subsectors with 165.981 million shares valued at N1.586 billion. Deals
in shares of the four banks mentioned in the most traded stocks boosted
volume in this subsector.

The
Insurance subsector followed with 30.424 million shares valued at
N21.430 million. The Food/Beverages subsector was third in the activity
chart with 26.902 million shares worth N465.808 million.