MTN gets SEC approval for offer for sale of 575m shares

MTN Nigeria Communications Plc said on the floor of the Stock Exchange that the Securities and Exchange Commission has approved an offer for sale of about 575 million ordinary shares held by MTN International (Mauritius) Ltd in the company, by way of bookbuild to qualified investors and a fixed price to retail investors. The retail offer would open after the institutional offer which opens at 12:00 noon on 23rd of November, 2021 and closes at 2:00pm on 26th of November, 2021.

Also, FCMB Group Plc released its 9 months 2021 financial statement which showed that the Group recorded a 4.3 per cent y/y growth in gross earnings to print at ₦152.7 billion, supported by a 3.3 per cent y/y increase in interest income (at ₦115.8bn). Consequently, FCMB grew its PBT and PAT by 20.4% and 23.3% y/y respectively to reach ₦19.1bn and ₦17.1bn. Furthermore, the Group’s asset base rose 17.5% y/y to print at ₦2.4tn, largely driven by the 17.6% and 63.6% y/y growth in loans & advances (₦967.6bn) and cash and its equivalents (₦361.6bn).

Meanwhile sell-pressure on INTBREW (-2.7%), FIDELITY (-3.9%), and DANGSUGAR (-1.2%) weighed on market performance as the benchmark index fell 1bp to 43,255.14 points. Notwithstanding, the YTD return remained unchanged at 7.4% while market capitalisation grew by ₦596.4m to ₦22.6tn. However, the exchange is yet to disclose the transaction which boosted the capitalisation. Trading activity abated as the volume and value traded declined 49.7% and 37.6% respectively to 218m units and ₦2.9bn. GTCO (36.2m units), FBNH (31.5m units), and ZENITH (13.4m units) led the volume chart while GTCO (₦919.6m), FBNH (₦387.3m), and ZENITH (₦327.2m) led by value.

Across sectors within our coverage, performance was mixed as 3 indices lost, 1 index gained, while the AFR-ICT and Industrial Goods indices closed flat. The Insurance index led the laggards, down 2.0% on sell-offs in MANSARD (-5.1%) and MBENEFIT (-3.8%). In the same vein, the Oil & Gas and Consumer Goods indices shed 20bps and 1bp respectively due to price decline in OANDO (-1.0%), INTBREW (-2.7%), and DANGSUGAR (-1.2%). However, the Banking index was the lone gainer, up 0.2% following buying interest in ACCESS (+1.7%) and UBN (+1.0%).

Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio), strengthened to 1.3x from 1.2x as 19 stocks advanced while 15 stocks declined. HONYFLOUR (+9.9%), UPL (+8.7%), and CHIPLC (+7.4%) led gainers while UPDC (-9.4%), NEM (-9.3%), and MANSARD (-5.1%) led decliners. In tomorrow’s trading session, we expect the market sentiment to improve mildly, as investors trade on bargain opportunities.

Market Statistics for Tuesday, 23rd November 2021