270312: NSE ASI slides further by -0.40%; Unilever Nig Plc rewards investors with N1.40 div

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270312: NSE ASI slides further by -0.40%; Unilever Nig Plc rewards investors with N1.40 div

Nigerian Stock Market sustained downtrend for the third consecutive session as the bears continue to dominate market activities due to continuous sell pressure witnessed across board while market breadth closed further depressed with two losers for every gainer recorded as NSE Index also closed below 21, 000 psychological line.

Nevertheless, the key benchmark indices sustained negative movement, taking hits majorly from Medium CAP stock which was particularly driven by Total while Large CAP stocks also contributed to the outlook recorded today due to sell pressure witnessed in Financial Services sector.

In the same vein, the market capitalization of 186 first-tier equities depreciated by N26.67 billion as market sentiments remained negative. 93 equities were traded today as against previous 99 with more activities recorded in Financial Services, Industrial Goods, Consumer Goods, Conglomerates, ICT, Services, Oil & Gas, Healthcare, Agriculture and Construction/Real Estate sectors.

Today, All five NSE sectoral indices closed negative as NSE 30 which basically measures the performance of blue chips maintained downtrend by -0.56%, NSE Insurance recorded -0.12% loss while NSE Oil & Gas also closed downwards by -1.61% with NSE banking recording -0.89% loss while NSE Food also recorded by -0.18% loss.

At the close of trading session, the NSE All-Share Index dips by -0.40% to close at 20,916.03 as against a decline by -0.90% recorded in the previous session to close at 21,000.15. In the same vein, market capitalization depreciated by N26.67billion (US$177.80million) to close at N6.63trillion (US$44.20billion) as against depreciation by N60.59billion (US$403.84million) recorded in preceding session to close at N6.66trillion (US$44.38billion).

The number of gainers at the close of trading session closed higher at 13 as against 18 recorded in the previous session while decliners closed lower at twenty-nine (29) as against twenty-two (22) losers recorded in the previous trading day – suggesting a negative market breadth.

Today, the following companies presented their results

1. Unilever Nigeria Plc: in its Audited 2011 result recorded positive gross earnings growth of +16.91% and positive PAT growth of +31.36%. The company rewards investors with N1.40k dividend. The closure date is 10^th April, 2012 while payment date is 11^th May, 2012.

2. Multi-Trex Integrated Foods Plc: in its Q3 2012 result recorded negative turnover growth of -30.06% and negative PAT growth of -730.30%.

3. Nigerian Ropes Plc: in its Audited 2011 result recorded positive gross earnings growth of+29.57% and positive PAT growth of +389.68%.

As usual, Financial Services sector led the market transaction volume today with 335.64 33million units valued at N2.30 billion (US$15.33 million) exchanged in 2,356 deals as against 198.86 million units valued at N1.03 billion (US$6.91 million) exchanged in 2,082 deals recorded in previous session.

The volume recorded in the sector was driven by transaction in the shares of Zenith, Access, UBA, Continsure and Guaranty Plc and the total volume of 226.16 million units valued at N1.97 billion traded in five stocks accounted for 55.66% of the entire market volume and their value represented 63.28% of the market’s value.

Transaction volume on the exchange moved up by +55.38% to close at 406.29 million units exchanged in 4,011 deals as against an upbeat by +361.79% recorded in the previous trading to close at 261.49 million units exchanged in 3,602 deals.

Also, market value appreciated by +63.61% to close at N3.11 billion (US$20.74 million) as against appreciation by +369.88% recorded in the previous trading session to close at N1.90 billion (US$12.68 million).

Sectoral Performance (According to New Market Segmentation)

Financial Services sector led the market sectoral performance with 335.64 million units of shares traded in 2,356 trades within the sector, followed by Industrial Goods sector to come second on the chart with 18.70 million units traded in 316 trades while Consumer Goods sector recorded 15.36 million units in 660 trades to close with third position on the chart. See the full table below

Market Outlook by Classification

At the end of today's session, it was observed that Large Cap stocks according to new market segmentation topped today's market activity with 45.11% contribution to market turnover, followed by Small Cap stocks with 29.98% while Medium Cap stocks stake 24.90% to come last on the chart.

Among the Large cap stocks, GUARANTY, NB and GUARANTY Plc topped the 8 traded stocks in that class while UNILEVER, IBTC and WAPCO dominated Medium Cap of 22 traded stocks. Similarly, STERLNBANK, GLAXOSMITH and CONOIL led 63 traded stocks in the Small Cap category in that order. See table below

SECTORAL REVIEW
The Agriculture sector closed with two gainers to one loser as against one gainer to one loser recorded in the previous session. OKOMUOIL closed with +5.00% while PRESCO closed with -1.77% after today’s trading session.

The Conglomerates sector closed with two losers as against one gainer to one loser recorded in the previous session. UACN closed by -4.98% after today’s trading session.

The Construction/Real Estate sector closed with one gainer the same market posture recorded in previous session. JBERGER closed by +0.09% after today’s trading session.

The Consumer Goods sector closed with three gainers to six losers compared with four gainers to five losers recorded in previous session. CADBURY moved northwards by 4.94% while VITAFOAM moved southwards by 4.92% after today’s trading session.

The Financial Services sector closed with two gainers to twelve losers compare with five gainers to eight losers recorded in the previous session. PRSTIGE moved up by +3.13% while SKYEBANK moved down by -4.85% after today’s trading session.

The Healthcare sector closed with two losers compared with one loser recorded in previous session. EVANSMED closed negative with 3.85% after today’s trading session.

The Information & Communication Technology sector closed with no price movement the same market outlook recorded in the previous session. All stocks in the sector closed flat after today’s trading session.

The Industrial Goods sector closed with two gainers to two losers as against four gainers to two losers recorded in previous session. BAGCO closed by +4.71% while CCNN closed by -5.00% after today’s are trading session.

The Natural Resources sector closed with no price movement the same market outlook recorded in previous session. All stocks in the sector closed flat after today’s trading session.

The Oil & Gas sector closed with four losers as against two losers recorded in previous session. TOTAL closed by -5.00% after today’s trading session.

The Services sector closed with three gainers as against two gainers to one loser recorded in the previous session. AIRSERVICE closed positive by 4.86% after today’s trading session.

Further analysis on acquiring banks since transaction date showed that the share price of Access Bank Plc has recorded 32.93% gain, followed by FCMB with 9.49% while Union Bank Plc leads the chart with 50.72% gain which was significantly impacted by the recent share reconstruction. However, Sterling Bank and ETI recorded -14.17% and -5.91% loss respectively. See the tracking table below.

Acquiring Banks