Regency, Mutual Benefit, Linkage stocks lift Insurance Index to 197.46 index points

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By Favour Nnabugwu

The growth in the Nigerian Stock Exchange Insurance Index for the week can be attributed to the appreciation of most insurance stocks such as; Regency Assurance, Mutual Benefits Assurance and Linkage Assurance Plc which all appreciated with a minimum of 10 percent for the week.

According to the report, the trio (Regency, Mutual Benefits and Linkage) recorded an increase of 22.2 percent, 11.43 percent and 10 percent respectively, placing the aforementioned firms in the top 10 price gainers for the week.

Recall that during the week, five insurance companies which comprises of; AIICO, NEM, Regency Assurance and 2 others gained a total of N2.29 billion in value for just one day, as earlier reported by Nairametrics.

The NSE All-Share Index and Market Capitalization depreciated by 1.74% to close the week at 38,648.48 and N20.221 trillion respectively.

Sequel to this, most indices finished lower, except NSE Mainboard, NSE Insurance, NSE ASeM, NSE MERI Growth, NSE Consumer Goods and NSE Oil/Gas Indices, which rose by 0.37 percent, 2.84 percent, 0.12 percent, 0.24 percent, 2.18 and 0.59 percent while the NSE Sovereign Bond Index closed flat.
The NSE Insurance Index returned 4.2 percent on a Year-to-Date basis.

On a general note, the Financial Services Industry traded 1.2 billion shares valued at N10.272 billion in 12,518 deals for the week(measured by volume); thus contributing 71.64 percent and 43.64 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively Insurance: AIICO, NEM, 3 others gain N2.29 billion in market capitalisation

The Nigerian Stock Exchange Industrial Index at the close of trading activities for the second week in the month of March, closed on a relatively bearish note.

At the close of trading activities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange on the 12th March 2021, the industrial index declined by 1.03 index points, to close at 1923.55 index points for the week.

When compared to the overall performance of the market, the NSE Industrial index fared better as it declined by –0.05%, while the NSE All-Share index and market capitalization depreciated by 1.74 percent to close the week at 38,648.48 and N20.221 trillion respectively.

What you should know

The NSE Industrial Index was designed to provide an investable benchmark to capture the performance of the Industrial Sector. It comprises the most capitalized and liquid companies in the industrial sector and is based on the market capitalization methodology

The index monitors the performance of ten industrial companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange which includes Dangote, BUA, Lafarge Cement and others.

The overall performance of the companies for the week was relatively bearish, as the index closed on a positive note with three losers relative to one gainer.

Investors of the banking giant lost a total of N51.3 billion in the period under review.
Meanwhile, UBA posted a profit after tax of N113.8 billion in 2020 according to the audited full-year report for the year 2020.

The profit after tax posted in 2020, represents a 27.7% increase compared to N89.1 billion recorded in the previous year.
Ecobank Transnational Incorporation followed closely with a decline in market capitalisation by 14.17% in the review period.

A total of N15.6 billion was lost by investors of the banking giant between December 31st, 2020 and March 12, 2021.
Ecobank also posted a decline in profit for the year 2020, recording a year-on-year decline of 64% to stand at N35.9 billion compared to N99.46 billion recorded in 2019.Top gainers

Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc gained the highest in the period under review as the stock price grew by 34.23% from N402.3 recorded on the last trading day of 2020 to N540 as of 12 March 2021, leaving its total market capitalisation at N317.8 billion.

The company’s shares grew by double figures despite the N30.71 billion loss recorded in its 2020 financial year.
Although the reason for this increase cannot be exactly established, it can be associated with the recovery of oil prices to pre-pandemic levels

Seplat also successfully raised US$260 million in debt to fund the completion of its ANOH Gas Processing Plant (“ANOH”). It is expected that this plant will help Nigeria to accelerate its transition away from small-scale diesel generators to cleaner, less expensive fuels such as natural gas for power generation.

Guinness Nigeria Plc, gained a total N9.86 billion between the period under review, representing an increase of 23.68%.

The company’s market capitalisation increased from N41.62 billion recorded as of December 31st, 2020 to N51.47 billion as of 12th March 2021.

Guinness recorded impressive growth in the Stock market despite the N317.42 million loss the Group posted in its Q2 2020 results released on 28 January 2021.
Flour Mills Nigeria Plc, followed with a gain of 14.23% to stand at N121.78 billion as of March 12th, 2021.

 

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