PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc and Airtel have announced dividend payment to their shareholders at the floor of the Stock Exchange. PZ said it will pay a dividend of ₦992.6m for the financial year ended 31st of May 2021, representing a payment of 25 kobo per ordinary share. As contained in the disclosure, the dividend will be paid on the 28th of January 2022 to shareholders whose names appear in the Register of Members as at the 7th of January 2022. Also, Airtel Africa Plc said it will pay an interim dividend of 2 cents per ordinary share to be paid on or around 10th of December 2021 following the ex-dividend date slated for the 11th of November 2021.
At the the market profit-taking in FBNH (-2.7%), DANGSUGAR (-2.9%), and NIGERIAN BREWERIES (-0.9%) dragged the market performance as the NGX benchmark index fell 15bps to 41,976.79 points. Accordingly, market capitalisation slid ₦32.3bn to ₦21.9tn while YTD return weakened to 4.2%. Market activity strengthened as volume and value traded rose 13.0% and 6.5% respectively to 378.2m units and ₦3.2bn. The most traded stocks by volume were MBENEFIT (52.4m units), UBA (29.3m units), and FBNH (27.5m units) while ZENITH (₦339.8m), FBNH (₦299.8m), and WAPCO (₦279.2m) led by value.
Performance of the sectors within our coverage was mixed as 3 indices lost, 2 indices gained while the AFR-ICT index closed flat. The Oil & Gas index led the laggards, down 1.8% as investors sold off stakes in OANDO (-7.9%) and ETERNA (-9.9%). Similarly, the Banking and Consumer Goods indices lost 0.4% and 0.3% respectively, driven by profit-taking in FBNH (-2.7%), GTCO (-0.9%), DANGSUGAR (-2.9%), and NIGERIAN BREWERIES (-0.9%). On the flip side, buying interest in AIICO (+8.9%), WAPIC (+6.3%), and WAPCO (+1.9%) drove 1.9% and 0.1% gains in the Insurance and Industrial Goods indices sequentially.
Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio), weakened to 0.6x from 1.6x as 20 stocks gained against 31 losers. FIDSON (+9.9%), GUINNESS (+9.9%), and SOVRENINS (+9.1%) led gainers while ETERNA (-9.9%), UPDC (-9.4%), and COURTVILLE (-9.1%) led the laggards. In the next trading session, we expect the market to remain bearish driven by profit-taking.
Market Statistics for Monday, 1st November 2021
| Market Cap (N’bn) | 21,906.2 |
| Market Cap (US$’bn) | 53.3 |
| NSE All-Share Index | 41,976.79 |
| Daily Performance % | 0.1 |
| WTD Performance % | 0.1 |
| MTD Performance % | 0.1 |
| QTD Performance % | 4.4 |
| YTD Performance % | 4.2 |
| Daily Volume (Million) | 378.2 |
| Daily Value (N’bn) | 3.2 |
| Daily Value (US$’m) | 7.9 |
