Nigerian Stock markets posts Bearish performance… ASI sheds 0.7%

The domestic equities market opened the week on a bearish note as sell-offs in BUACEMENT (-2.2%), GUARANTY (-3.0%) and ETI (-8.6%) drove the All-Share Index down 67bps to 27,570.58 points. As a result, YTD return fell to 2.7% while market capitalisation shed ₦96.3bn to ₦14.3tn. Activity level improved as volume and value traded rose 1.6% and 23.8% to 134.6m units and ₦1.6bn respectively. The most active stocks by volume were ZENITH (22.5m units), UCAP (17.2m units) and GUARANTY (12.4m units) while ZENITH (₦441.6m), GUARANTY (₦362.8m) and UNILEVER (₦153.7m) led by value.

Across sectors, performance was bearish as only 1 of 6 indices under our coverage gained. The Industrial Goods index led laggards, down 1.6% due to sell-offs in BUACEMENT (-2.2%) and WAPCO (-2.6%). Similarly, the Banking and Consumer Goods indices fell 1.5% and 1.2% respectively on the back of price declines in GUARANTY (-3.0%), ETI (-8.6%), INTBREW (-9.0%) and DANGSUGAR (-3.9%). Losses in LAWUNION (-9.6%) and WAPIC (-9.1%) dragged the Insurance index lower by 0.8%. Conversely, the Oil & Gas index emerged the lone gainer, up 0.6% following price appreciation in JAPAULOIL (+5.0%) and OANDO (+4.3%). Lastly, the AFR-ICT index closed flat.

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) improved to 0.6x from the 0.5x recorded in the previous trading session as 10 stocks advanced relative to 18 decliners. The best performers were JAIZBANK (+6.3%), JAPAULOIL (+5.0%) and OANDO (+4.3%) while LAWUNION (-9.6%), WAPIC (-9.1%) and INTBREW (-9.0%) led the laggards. We expect the bearish sentiment to persist in the near term. However, we note that there are opportunities for bargain hunting.

Today’s Corporate Actions

The under-listed events will be Holding at the NSE this week:

UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT COMPANY PLC – PROPOSED RIGHTS ISSUE 

Date: Tuesday 18 February, 2020. Venue and Time: 20th floor (Event Center) and 10am respectively. 

INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES – CLOSING GONG CEREMONY 

Date: Friday 21 February, 2020. 

Venue and Time: Council room and 1.30pm respectively.

Re: UACN Property Development Company Plc – (UPDC) – Proposed Rights Issue Further to the Market Bulletin with Reference Number: NSE/RD/LRD/MB55/19/09/30, dated 30 September 2019 on the above subject, Dealing Members are hereby notified of the revised terms to the proposed Rights Issue by UACN Property Development Company Plc (the Company). 

Highlights of some corporate earnings disclosures announced today:

International Breweries Plc (Unaudited Q4:2019): Revenue fell 5.8% Y-o-Y to ₦35.1bn; the company slumped 379.4% to a loss after tax of ₦9.1bn from a PAT of ₦3.3bn in Q4:2018.

Mayer & Bayer Plc (Unaudited FY:2019): Revenue fell 5.5% Y-o-Y to ₦8.1bn; the company’s PAT grew 83.5% to ₦628.9m from ₦342.7m in FY:2018.

C & I Leasing Plc (Unaudited Q4:2019): Revenue rose 29.4% Y-o-Y to ₦3.6bn; Profit after tax rose 49.5% to ₦1.7bn from ₦1.1bn in Q4:2018.

Market Statistics for Monday, 17th February 2020 

Source: Afrinvest