Market turnover jumps by over 100%

..As Fidelity shareholders approve N4.6 bn dividend

By Omodele Adigun

THERE was more than 100 per cent jump in market turnover last week as 1.826 billion shares worth N14.468 billion changed ownership in 20,058 deals on the Lagos floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange(NSE).

This was about 100.5 per cent increase on the 910.659 million shares valu­ing N6.409 billion recorded the previous week in 15,023 deals. The last week figure was fueled by trading in three banking stocks- Eco­bank, Access Bank and FBN Holdings-which accounted for 37.38 per cent of the eq­uity turnover with 682.553 million shares worth N6.787 billion.

Buoyed by transaction in the three banks, the Finan­cial Services topped the ac­tivity chart with 1.471 billion shares valued at N10.686 billion and traded in 11,038 deals to contribute 80.58 per cent and 73.86 per cent to the total equity volume and value respectively. The Conglomerates Industry fol­lowed with 187.026 million shares worth N313.287 mil­lion , while the third place was occupied by the Con­sumer Goods Industry with a turnover of 74.728 million shares worth N2.054 billion.

In the bond market, a total of 8,033 units of FGN bonds valued at N8.923 mil­lion were traded in six deals, compared to a total of 23,903 units worth N28.385 mil­lion transacted the previous week in seven deals.

Fifty-four equities appre­ciated in price during the week, higher than the 40 eq­uities of the previous week, while 17 equities depreciated as against the 25 equities of the previous week. How­ever, 118 equities remained unchanged.This was lower than the 124 equities of the previous week. The uptick in the share prices propelled the All-Share Index and market capitalization to new highs as they both appreciated by 2.88 per cent and 2.92per cent to close the week at 26,441.03 and N9.099 trillion respectively.

Similarly, all other indices finished higher during the week, with the exception of the NSE Industrial Goods Index that declined by 1.15 per cent .

Meanwhile, the share­holders of Fidelity Bank Plc, unanimously approved the 16 kobo per share dividend proposed for its 2015 finan­cial year.

According to the bank, the 16 kobo dividend amounts to N4.6 billion, adding that it has main­tained a tradition of consis­tent dividend pay-out for the past 10 years.

Speaking at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos, the bank’s acting Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Moham­med Balarabe, said that the bank’s 2015 performance re­flects the disciplined execu­tion of the management’s medium term strategy and the resilience of evolving business models, despite the extremely challenging business environment in 2015.