FCMB traded 19.7m units shares at N3 per share

First City Monument Bank (FCMB) recorded significant losses at the first trading session of 2020. At about 10.55 am, the tier-2 Banking stock was trading at N3.00, printing a decline of 9.91% at the Nigerian bourse. The plunge in share price is largely attributed to growing concerns among investors on recent reports stating the Management of First City Monument Bank Limited (FCMB) had announced it is currently investigating the allegation involving its Managing Director, Adam Nuru. This was according to a press release by the Head of Corporate Affairs, FCMB Group, Diran Olojo.

However the stock market began the year on a positive note as the benchmark index advanced 218bps to settle at 41,147.39 points, buoyed by  gains in BUACEMENT (+9.9%), GUARANTY (+3.6%) and WAPCO (+9.0%). Accordingly, the YTD return rose to 2.2% while market capitalisation increased by ₦458.4bn to settle at ₦21.5tn. Activity level  plunged as volume  and value traded dropped 70.2% and 86.0% to 211.9m units and ₦1.4bn respectively. The most traded stocks by volume were AIICO (87.5m units), FCMB (19.7m units) and TRANSCORP (12.8m units) while ZENITH (₦225.7m), WAPCO (₦223.0m) and GUARANTY (₦191.1m) led by value.

Sector performance was upbeat as 5 of 6 indices under our coverage gained save the AFR-ICT index which remained unchanged. The Industrial Goods and Insurance indices led gainers, advancing 4.7% and 4.4% respectively due to buying interest in BUACEMENT (+9.9%), WAPCO (+9.0%) and MANSARD (+9.5%). Similarly, the Banking and Consumer Goods indices were up by 3.7% and 1.4% in that order, driven by price appreciation in GUARANTY (+3.6%), ZENITH (+3.6) and INTBREW (+9.9%). Lastly, the Oil & Gas index rose marginally by 0.1% due to buying interest in ETERNA (+5.9%). Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) strengthened to 15.5x from the 0.7x recorded previously as 31 stocks advanced against 2 decliners. SOVRENIN (+10.0%), TRANSCORP (+10.0%) and HONEYFLOUR (+10.0%) were the best performing tickers while FCMB (-6.0%) and CAVERTON (-3.4%) were the only losers. We anticipate a sustained bullish performance in the next trading session.

Market Statistics for Monday, 4th January 2021