Deap Capital share price increases by 46%

By Omoh Gabriel, Business Editor
Shareholders of DEAP Capital Management & Trust Plc have started reaping the gains of their investments as the stock has appreciated by about 68.75 per cent less than one month of its listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
Deap Capital, which is one of Nigeria’s leading and highly diversified fund management companies, got listed on the NSE on December 17, 2007 at N2.88 per share. However, the consistent demand resulting from investors’ high confidence has lifted the price to close at N4.86 on Wednesday , translating into a capital gain of 68.75 per cent.
Unlike some newly listed companies that has liquidity problem due to certificates delay and non-verification. Deap Capital has recorded significant turnover within one month.
Investors on Wednesday traded a total volume of 262,500 million shares in 13 deals.
The shares of the company traded so far indicate that there are willing sellers and willing buyers, for the shares on a daily basis. “This is a good record for a newly listed company given recent developments in the market where share certificates for Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) and other offers are usually not available for clients for verification and trading, even up to four months after the shares have been listed. There are cases of non-receipt of certificates of some banks that did their public offerings over 10 months,” a stock broker said.
It was gathered that the liquidity of Deap Capital shares is partly resulted from the fact that its IPO which was carried out in April/May last year was closed on schedule and certificates/return money sent to subscribers promptly at the conclusion of the issue. At the same time, their Registrars, First Registrars Nigeria Limited was said to be adopting promptly verification of the share certificates sent in for verification, which enable investors to sell whenever they want to.
Stockbrokers said that the rapid increase in capital appreciation of the shares within the period of listing has provided a major incentive for many speculative investors in the stock to quickly cash in on their gains and re-organize their portfolios thereafter.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Deap Capital, Mr. Emmanuel Ugboh, said during the listing of the stock that the company had declared 800 per cent return on investment for shareholders in four years. According to him, the company has paid dividends to shareholders twice in four years. It has also issued bonus shares twice in four years.
He assured investors that the company would leverage on its subsidiaries and associated companies to continue to deliver superior returns.
Deap Capital operations include fund management, portfolio management, financial advisory and issuing houses service.
It has Resort Securities & Trust Company Limited, Resort Savings & Loans Limited, DVCF Oil & Gas Plc, and Enter S P Inc as subsidiaries and associated companies.