As investors cherry-picked SEPLAT (+10.0%), BUACEMENT (+1.0%) and FBNH (+1.0%), the All-Share index rose 18bps to settle at 24,693.73 points. Consequently, investors gained ₦22.7bn as market capitalisation increased to ₦12.9tn while YTD loss eased to -8.0%. Activity level waned as volume and value traded declined 32.4% and 50.8% to 101.6m units and ₦973.6m respectively. The top traded stocks by volume were GUARANTY (10.9m units), FBNH (9.7m units) and UBA (9.4m units) while GUARANTY (₦244.7m), SEPLAT (₦166.7m) and ZENITH (₦83.9m) led by value.
Performance across sectors was bullish as 4 of 6 indices under our coverage advanced. The Banking (-0.2%) and AFR-ICT (-5bps) indices lost due to price weakness in GUARANTY (-0.4%), ETI (-2.4%) and MTNN (-0.1%). On the flip side, the Oil & Gas (+4.6%) and Insurance (+1.4%) indices appreciated on the back of gains in SEPLAT (+10.0%), OANDO (+1.3%), CORNERSTONE (+10.0%) and PRESTIGE (+8.7%). The Industrial (+0.3%) and Consumer Goods (+1bp) indices also advanced owing to price appreciation in BUACEMENT (+1.0%), PZ (+5.1%) and HONYFLOUR (+4.2%).
Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) strengthened to 1.3x from 0.8x recorded previously as 18 stocks advanced against the 14 decliners. The top gainers were CORNERSTONE (+10.0%), SEPLAT (+10.0%) and PRESTIGE (+8.7%) while NPFMCRFBK (-9.9%), ARBICO (-9.7%) and STUDPRESS (-9.5%) lost the most. We believe the performance of the market this week would be majorly dictated by the trend in earnings releases.
Corporate Actions
Union Bank Plc (Unaudited Q2:2020 Result): Gross Earnings fell 1.0% y/y to ₦37.9bn from ₦38.3bn in Q2:2019 while profit after tax declined 27.9% to ₦4.7bn from ₦6.6bn in Q2:2019.
Seplat Petroeum Development Company Plc (Unaudited Q2:2020 Result): Revenue fell 37.2% y/y to ₦37.7bn from ₦60.0bn in Q2:2019 while the company reported a loss after tax of ₦3.1bn from a ₦27.5bn profit in Q2:2019.
Market Statistics for Wednesday, 29th July 2020
| Market Cap (N’bn) | 12,881.7 |
| Market Cap (US$’bn) | 33.4 |
| NSE All-Share Index | 24,693.73 |
| Daily Performance % | 0.2 |
| WTD Performance % | 1.1 |
| MTD Performance % | 0.9 |
| QTD Performance % | 0.9 |
| YTD Performance % | (8.0) |
| Daily Volume (Million) | 101.6 |
| Daily Value (N’bn) | 1.0 |
| Daily Value (US$’m) | 2.5 |
Source: Afrinvest
