The market value of Airtel Africa increased by N665 billion to N8.08 trillion on Thursday as a result of the trading of 1.009 million shares of the company.
This represents an increase of 8.97% over the N7.41 trillion amount from the day before.
The NGX’s All-Share Index was in the red since the start of the week commencing May 13, 2024, but Airtel’s gain helped to turn things around. With an All-Share Index of 98,156.71 points at the close on May 16, the NGX gained 0.84% from its closing value of 97,343.42 points the day before.
During the day, the market capitalization of the NGX increased from N55.058 trillion to N55.525 trillion, resulting in a gain of N467 billion for stocks.
Among the best achievers were Prestige Assurance, which increased by 5.88%, International Energy Insurance, which increased by 7.84%, Airtel Africa, which increased by 8.67%, and Royal Exchange and Guinea Insurance, which both increased by 10%.
Eterna Plc, on the other hand, finished as the biggest loser with a loss of 9.89%.
The market values of FBNH and GTCO fell by N46.7 billion and N66.2 billion, respectively, while banking stocks including FCMB, Unity Bank, FBNH, and GTCO lost 8.28%, 5.88%, 5.36%, and 5.33%, respectively.
Spotlight on Airtel Africa
Airtel Africa’s market performance was its biggest single-day return since February 14, 2024, when it gained 10%, with its stock closing at N2200. Up until May 6, 2024, when its share price fell by 10% to close at N1980, Airtel’s pricing remained stable at N2200.
Following the announcement of its full-year financial figures, which showed that Airtel had a net loss of $3.89 million for FY 2023–2024, the company’s share price continued to fall.
The first phase of Airtel Africa’s share buyback program is presently underway on the London Stock Market, the company’s other listing market. It is anticipated that the group will repurchase $50 million worth of its shares in six months, with a second round of share buybacks valued at an additional $50 million.
As of May 16, the business had repurchased 13,941,626 ordinary shares for a total of £14 million, or 100.63 GBp (pence) per ordinary share.
Highlights of the market
From 355.554 million units the day before to 409.766 million units during the trading day, there was a 15.25% rise in trading volume. With 115.83 million shares traded, Custodian, Nigerian Breweries (83.747 million shares), UBA (26.064 million shares), Access Holdings (24.183 million shares), and GTCO Holding (22.930 million shares) were the top contributors.
A 25% rise from the N7.143 billion exchanged the day before to the N8.925 billion worth of shares traded throughout the day was seen. With N2.167 billion worth of shares exchanged, Airtel Africa led the way, followed by Custodian with N1.38 billion, GTCO with N946.86 million, Nigerian Breweries with N1.93 billion, and UBA with N560.54 million.
Throughout the day, trading sentiments for stocks valued at over one trillion (SWOOT) were varied. Airtel Africa saw a gain of 8.97%, while GTCO and Zenith Bank had declines of 5.33% and 2.40%, respectively.
There were no pricing adjustments reported by other category members, including BUA Foods, BUA Cement, Dangote Cement, MTN Nigeria, Seplat Energy, Geregu Power, Transcorp Hotel, and Transcorp Power.
The NGX ended the year having gained 31.27%, less than the 33.69% inflation rate for April as of May 16. After recording strong returns at the beginning of the year, the NGX has gradually slowed down over the past two months, and the ASI hasn’t been able to break beyond the 100,000 barrier since it fell below it on April 16.
