Julius Berger leads NSE activity amid Bilfinger divestment

Julius Berger Nigeria (JBN) Plc on Wednesday at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) emerged the most traded stock, exchanging 46.33 million shares worth N2.39 billion in 17 deals. The Managing Director of APT Securities and Funds Ltd., Malam Garba Kurfi, in an interview with newsmen in Lagos attributed the volume to Bilfinger’s divestment from JBN.
Kurfi said the company’s minority shareholder had commenced divestment of its holdings. JBN recently notified the exchange of Bilfinger’s, decision to dispose of its remaining stake in JBN to long-term Nigerian investors. The Nigerian firm said Bilfinger planned to sell its 33.4 per cent stake in JBN on or before the end of June. Kurfi said the decision was based on Bilfinger’s strategic realignment from a construction company to an engineering and services group.
A breakdown of the NSE activity chart showed that Wapic Insurance followed with a total of 34.48 million shares valued N17.69 million, while Unilever sold 33.74 million shares worth N1.53 billion. FBN Holdings accounted for 31.84 million shares valued N257.13 million, while Zenith traded 31.28 million shares worth N625.37 million.
In all, investors bought and sold 310.34 million shares valued N6.12 billion achieved in 3,669 deals. This was in contrast to 208.09 million shares worth N2.24 billion transacted in 3,787 deals on Tuesday. The market indices recorded depreciation, dropping by 0.34 per cent due to price losses.
Specifically, the market capitalisation lost N39 billion or 0.34 per cent to close at N11.356 trillion against 33,380.59 posted on Tuesday.
Also, the All-Share Index which opened at 33,380.84 lost 113.97 points or 0.34 per cent to close at 33,266.87. Julius Berger led the losers’ chart with a loss of N2.61 to close at N49.78 per share. Con Oil followed with N1 to close at N41, while International Breweries dipped 73k to close at N19.07 per share. Forte Oil dropped 66k to close at N187.99, while Flour Mill depreciated by 63k to close at N33.57 per share.
On the other hand, Mobil Oil topped the gainers’ chart with N5.54 to close at N158.85 per share. Ashaka Cement garnered 50k to close at N22, while Unilever inched 33k to close at N45.50 per share. Vitafoam grew by 14k to close at N5.63, while Skye Bank went up by 12k to close at N2.55 per share.