Equities investors lose N693bn on weak Q3 earnings

With all the indices closed negative, equity investors lost more than N693 billion on Wednesday as the third quarter of 2025 earnings season’s euphoria fades. 

The market has been bleeding for the third consecutive trading session due to downbeat investors’ sentiment on risky assets. The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) all-share index fell by 70 basis points due to selling rallies, driven by overbought stocks and portfolio rebalancing.

The negative outing was largely driven by profit-taking activities in previously appreciated medium- and high-cap stocks such as BETAGLAS, ARADEL, GUINNESS, and 43 others. A total of 46 stocks recorded losses, with the Oil & Gas sector leading the decline among the major sectors.  The downtrend also reflects investors’ reactions to recently released Q3 financial statements by quoted companies.

The All-Share Index shed 1,092.24 basis points today, representing a drop of 0.70% to close at 154,260.96.  Similarly, the NGX market capitalisation lost ₦693.28 billion to close at ₦97.91 trillion, according to stockbrokers.
Reflecting the negative sentiment, market activities were down as total volume and total value of all trades decreased by -15.52% and -43.85%, respectively. 

In a note, Atlass Portfolio Limited told investors that approximately 443.88 million units valued at ₦14,259.66 million were transacted across 27,384 deals. In terms of volume, TANTALIZER led the activity chart, accounting for 12.55% of the total volume of trades, followed by SOVRENINS (10.20%), ACCESSCORP (8.55%), GTCO (7.51%), and ZENITHBANK (3.76%), rounding out the top five.

GTCO emerged as the most traded stock in terms of value, accounting for 20.78% of the total value of trade on the exchange. DEAPCAP topped the advancers’ chart for today with a price appreciation of 9.70 percent, trailed by ASOSAVINGS (+8.86%), MCNICHOLS (+6.67%), CAVERTON (+6.14%), OKOMUOIL (+5.90%), UNILEVER (+4.05%) and thirteen others. Forty-six stocks depreciated, according to the market report.

BETAGLAS and JOHNHOLT were the top losers, with a price depreciation of -10.00% each, trailed by IKEJAHOTEL (-8.68%), EUNISELL (-8.53%), ARADEL (-7.94%), GUINNESS (-5.31%), and WEMABANK (-4.76%). Hence, the market breadth closed negatively, recording 19 gainers and 46 losers, sectoral performance was also negative. The Oil & Gas sector declined by -3.68%, followed by the Insurance sector, down by 2.45%.  The Industrial sector fell by -1.57%, the Banking sector dipped by -0.35% and the Consumer goods sector fell by – 0.24%.