By Dipo Olowookere
The share price of Oando Plc witnessed a 60.47 per cent week-on-week rise at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited last week amid rising appetite for the company’s securities by investors.
Oando, which was selling at about N5 some months ago due to the issues it had with the capital market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), gained 60.47 per cent last week to close at N40.60 compared with the previous week’s N25.30.
The company, which some investors avoided like a plague in the past, has now become the darling of traders, with demand rising by the day at the stock market because of the recent acquisition of Eni oil assets in Nigeria by Oando.
It topped the gainers’ chart in the week under review, followed by RT Briscoe, which appreciated by 51.19 per cent to N1.27, and Japual, which rose by 35.80 per cent to N2.39. Academy Press increased by 34.58 per cent to N2.88, and United Capital advanced by 31.28 per cent to N15.95.
On the flip side, Champion Breweries lost 15.03 per cent to quote at N2.77, BUA Cement fell by 9.99 per cent to N128.90, University Press declined by 9.92 per cent to N2.18, Union Dicon shed 9.88 per cent to N7.30, and Deap Capital dropped 9.62 per cent to 47 Kobo.
Business Post reports that when trading activities ended for the week last Friday, the bourse recorded 46 price advancers versus 40 in the preceding week, 38 price decliners versus 40 in the previous week, and 67 equities closed flat versus the 71 equities recorded a week earlier.
The renewed confidence of investors propelled the NGX to a week-on-week growth of 0.87 per cent, with the All-Share Index (ASI) closing higher to 98,592.12 points, and the market capitalisation rising to N55.978 trillion.
All other indices finished higher apart from the NGX Main Board and industrial goods indices, which moderated by 0.09 per cent and 3.67 per cent, respectively, while the ASeM and sovereign bond indices closed flat.
In the week, traders traded 2.679 billion shares worth N49.017 billion in 47,451 deals compared with the 3.393 billion shares worth N52.304 billion transacted in 44,814 deals in the preceding week.
Financial stocks dominated the activity chart with 1.982 billion units valued at N31.985 billion in 23,467 deals, contributing 74.00 per cent and 65.25 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.
Energy shares sold 229.680 million units worth N7.441 billion in 4,021 deals, and ICT equities transacted 113.887 million units for N3.059 billion in 4,260 deals.
Access Holdings, Veritas Kapital Assurance, and UBA accounted for 756.035 million shares worth N10.726 billion in 6,985 deals, contributing 28.22 per cent and 21.88 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.