Zenith Bank, FBN Holdings, others lift N10.4b NSE’s turnover

Exchange begins automation of rights trading, settlement

Despite the one-day public holiday declared last week Monday, to mark the 2017 Workers’ Day celebration, heavy transactions in the shares of some banks, especially Zenith Bank and FBN Holdings, last week, lifted the volume of shares traded on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). A turnover of 1.154 billion shares worth N10.439 billion was recorded in 16,676 deals by investors on the floor of the Exchange.

This volume of shares traded, was, however, higher than a total of 1.333 billion shares worth N9.671 billion that changed hands in 16,300 deals during the week ended April 28, 2017.

At the close of transactions last week, the financial services industry led the activity chart in volume terms with 813.016 million shares valued at N6.904 billion traded in 10,298 deals.

The oil and gas industry followed with 106.566 million shares worth N1.063 billion in 1,356 deals. The third place was occupied by Services Industry with a turnover of 90.940 million shares worth N188.204 million in 660 deals.

Trading in the top three equities namely – Zenith International Bank Plc, FBN Holdings Plc and Oando Plc accounted for 385.893 million shares worth N3.816 billion in 4,005 deals, contributing 33.44 per cent the total equity turnover volume.

Also traded during the week were a total of 20 units of Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) valued at N110,000.00 executed in one deal compared with a total of 533 units valued at N32,204.30 transacted last week in 15 deals.

A total of 1,582 units of Federal Government Bonds valued at N1.608 million were traded this week in 10 deals, compared with a total of 4,705 units valued at N3.934 million transacted last week in 4 deals.

The NSE All-share index and market capitalisation appreciated by 1.85 per cent and 1.75 per cent to close the week at 26,235.63 and N9.069 trillion respectively.

Similarly, all other Indices finished higher during the week with the exception the NSE Insurance and NSE Industrial Goods Indices that depreciated by 0.09 per cent and 1.04 per cent respectively while the NSE ASeM Index closed flat.

About 43 equities appreciated in price during the week, higher than 38 equities of the previous week., while 16 equities depreciated in price, lower than 25 equities of the previous week, while 114 equities remained unchanged same as 114 equities recorded in the preceding week.

Meanwhile, the NSE has announced the automation of rights trading and settlement with effect from May 8, 2017. A rights issue is an offer to existing shareholders to purchase additional shares in a company during the company’s issue of new shares.

The invitation to existing shareholders is usually made in proportion to their existing holdings, allowing them to buy the newly issued shares at a fixed price, usually at a discount to market value of the shares, within a specific subscription period.