Access Bank UK entered into agreement to acquire majority equity stake in Afrasia Bank Limited as ASI down 0.2%

Accessholding PLC has said on the floor of Nigeria Exchange that its subsidiary Access Bank UK Limited has entered into a binding agreement to acquire majority equity stake in Afrasia Bank Limited the Republic of Mauritius’ fourth largest bank by total assets. The transaction reflects the Company’s move to provide Access UK with a solid ground to expand its operations and contribute to the overall business. However, trading at the floor of the Exchange, losses in BUACEMENT, OANDO, and CONOIL dragged the NGX-AS down 0.2% to 97,233.07 points. As such, VTD return dipped to 30.0% (previously: 30.3%), while market capitalisation shed 0.2% to N58.9tn. Meanwhile, activity level improved as volume and value traded rose 18.0% and 4.1% to 291.5m units and #7.8bn, respectively.
Across our coverage sectors, performance varied as three indices gained, two lost, while the AFR-ICT index closed flat Topping the chart, the Insurance and Consumer Goods indices gained 0.9% and 0.6% respectively, driven by buy interest on SUNUASSU (+9.7%), CORNERST (+2.0%), FLOURMILL (+10.0%), and HONYFLOUR (+2.2%). Following, price appreciation in FBNH (+1.5%), FIDELITY (+2.7%), and GTCO (+0.6%) pushed the Banking index up 0.5%. Conversely, the Oll & Gas and Industrial Goods indices declined 1.8% apiece owing to sell-pressure on OANDO (-3.2%), CONOIL (-6.2%) and BUACEMENT (-5.9%).
Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth, improved to 0.23x (from 0. 15x in the prior session) as 32 stocks advanced, 15 declined, while 73 closed flat. In the last trading session of the week, we anticipate a mild positive dose, driven by sustained bargain hunting activities on banking tickers.