Dangote Launches N150bn commercial paper, as stock index decline

Dangote Cement Plc, has launched N150 billion Commercial Paper (CP) programme. According to a notice signed by the company’s secretary, Edward Imoedemhe, and sent to the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) the new commercial paper programme combined with an existing N300 billion multi-instrument issuance Bond programme will help broaden Dangote’s cement funding sources and further ease access to capital market funding. In addition, the cement manufacturer said that the new commercial paper will be used to match working capital requirements and meet up with general corporate obligations. At today trading the All-Share index (ASI) declined by 12bps to 39,434.69 points due to sell pressure  on WAPCO (-5.3%), GTCO (-0.7%), and UBN (-3.8%). Consequently, YTD loss worsened to -2.1% while market capitalisation dipped by ₦25.2bn to ₦20.5tn. Trading activity weakened as volume and value traded fell by 24.8% and 36.3% to 210.9m units and ₦2.0bn respectively. The most traded stocks by volume were CHAMS (47.9m units), GTCO (20.9m units), and HONYFLOUR (14.6m units) while GTCO (₦586.1m), NESTLE (₦418.2m), and MTNN (₦198.0m) led by value.

Across sectors under our coverage, performance was bearish as 4 indices lost, 1 gained while the AFR-ICT index closed flat. The Industrial Goods index led the losers, down 0.3% on the back of sell-offs in WAPCO (-5.3%). Similarly, the Banking, Consumer Goods and Oil & Gas indices fell by 0.1% apiece due to price depreciation in GTCO (-0.7%), UBN (-3.8%), FLOURMILL (-0.3%), INTBREW (-2.1%) and OANDO (-0.4%). Conversely, the Insurance index was the lone gainer, up 0.4% due to buying interest in LINKASSURE (+5.0%). 

Investors sentiment, as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio), strengthened, settling at 1.7x from 1.3x recorded in the previous trading session as 19 stocks advanced while 11 stocks declined. FTNCOCOA (+10.0%), PHARMDEKO (+9.9%), and TRANSCOHOT (+9.7%) led the gainers while WAPCO (-5.3%), PZ (-4.2%), and UBN (-3.8%) led the losers. 

Today, Dangote Cement Plc announced the establishment of a new ₦150.0bn Commercial Paper Programme. This programme is aimed at broadening the company’s funding sources, and combined with its ₦300.bn multi-instrument issuance bond programme, increase its access to capital market funding.

Market Statistics for Monday, 23rd August 2021