By Favour Nnabugwu

AIICO, NEM Insurance, Consolidate Hallmark, LASACO and Regency have gained a total of N2.29 billion in value last weekend  despite an overall bearish return in the NSE Market.

The five insurance companies which coincidentally are the only insurance companies that recorded positive growth recorded in Thursday March 11, 2021

Inference from the data of the Nigerian Stock Exchange market, indicates that the gains are due to appreciation in the share prices of the five insurance firms, part of which acted as a catalyst to lift the NSE Insurance Index by 0.69 percent as at close of business that Thursday..

AIICO

AIICO Insurance which is the second most capitalized insurance company on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange printed one of the highest gains today, as its share price appreciated by 4.27 percent to close at N1.22.

The increase in the share price acted as a catalyst in the appreciation of the firm’s market capitalization by about N1.033 billion, from N24.19 billion recorded as at close of business on Wednesday to N25.22 billion.

It is also pertinent to note that a total of 19.67 million units of the firm’s shares were traded on Thursday (the highest recorded by the firm since January 4, 2021), indicating a surge of about 179.4 percent when compared to the units traded a day earlier.

NEM Insurance

NEM Insurance Plc share price appreciated by 5.1 percent to close at N1.85 per share. This resulted in an increase in the firm’s market capitalization, from N17.66 billion as at the close of business on Wednesday to N18.56 billion, implying an increase of about N902.97 million for the aforementioned period.

Investors traded about 2.95 million units of the firm’s shares, indicating a surge of about 422.7 percent when compared to the units traded in the previous day.

Consolidated Hallmark Insurance

Consolidated Hallmark Insurance posted the highest increase by any insurance stock on Thursday. It recorded a 7.41 percent increase in its share price which closed at N0.29. The increase trickled down to the market capitalization which added N214.09 million, from N2.89 billion posted a day earlier.

It is worthy to note that a total of 978,670 units of the firm’s shares were traded on Thursday, indicating a decline of 73.95 percent when compared to the units traded previously.

LASACO

LASACO Assurance Plc posted a 3.28 percent increase in its share price which closed at N1.26. The increase played a pivotal role in the advancement of its market capitalization, from N2.24 billion as at the close of business on Wednesday to N2.31 billion, implying an increase of about N73.35 million.

In lieu of this, a total of about 1.16 million units of shares were traded in the bourse, indicating a decline of about 29.8 percent when compared to the units traded a day earlier.

LASACO Assurance Plc had earlier reported the completion of its share reconstruction exercise, involving about 7.3 million ordinary shares. This exercise subsequently raised the initial share price of the firm to about N1.68.

Regency Assurance

Regency Assurance Plc gained about N66.69 million in market capitalization, after its share price appreciated by 3.45 percent to close at N0.30. The firm’s market capitalization as at close of business on Thursday stood at N2 billion.

A total of about 240,667 units of the firm’s shares were traded