Wema, AP, others identified as worst performing stocks

The stocks of Wema Bank Plc, Equity Assurance Plc and African Petroleum Plc, have been identified as the worst performing stocks on a year-to-date basis for the year 2009.

This was contained in a presentation made by the Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Mr. Bismarck Rewane, at the Monthly Executive Breakfast Session of the LagosBusinessSchool.

According to the presentation made available to our correspondent on Saturday, Wema bank, which topped the chart, had a YTD change of -92.30 per cent, while Equity Assurance dropped by 90.12 per cent. African Petroleum Plc dropped by 88.43 per cent.

Others are Crusader (Nigeria) Plc, with a YTD of -88.16 per cent, and industrial products stock- First Aluminum Plc, with -84.96 per cent.

Cement Company of Northern Nigeria, on the other hand, emerged the best performing stock, YTD, for the year under consideration.

It had a YTD of 136.40 per cent and a change in its earnings per share by 153.17 per cent.

Benue Cement Company Plc followed with a YTD change of 136.11 per cent and an EPS 277.77 per cent, while PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc had a YTD of 110.05 per cent and an EPS of 33.47 per cent.

Rewane noted that the Nigerian Stock Exchange was the worst performing stock exchange in the African continent after Ghana, saying that the market capitalisation of the listed equities had lost 32.45 per cent, while the All-Share Index lost 27.45 per cent.

According to him, the drivers of the downward trend include poor performance in the just released results with a number of companies reporting losses.

He noted that the total amount of dividend paid in 2009 fell by 65 per cent, from N280bn paid the preceding year. Other reasons he said, included the pessimism by investors as a result of policy uncertainties as well as the fate of the banks under administration.

Rewane, however, predicted that foreign investors would begin to pick up on bargains in the market, which would lead to the market capitalisation closing the year at N5.5tn.

He said that there would be strong recovery of the capital market by the second quarter of 2010, adding that the resolution of the banking crisis might gear up investors‘ confidence.

(Source: Punch)

Others include Unilever Nigeria Plc with a YTD and EPS of 84.68 per cent and 175.94 per cent respectively, and healthcare stock- Glaxo Smithkline Consumer Nigeria Plc, with 60.90 per cent and 40.87 per cent YTD and EPS respectively.