Julius Berger closed trading on August 13, 2024, at a share price of N130.00, continuing a strong upward trend that has gained momentum since the start of the month.
The stock recorded a market volume of 13.17 million shares on the day, the highest since reaching 17.65 million shares on May 23, 2024.
Since the beginning of August 2024, the stock has been predominantly on the buy side, rising by 34.02% from its closing price in July.
At the end of July, Julius Berger’s share price stood at N97, with a market volume of 8.05 million shares.
However, buy-side pressure intensified in August, with the stock already accumulating a market volume of 13.18 million shares within the first two weeks of trading.
The company’s share price is up 360% in the last year and over 150% this year alone, making it one of the best-performing stocks this year.
Julius Berger sustained its share performance:
Julius Berger has enjoyed several months of favourable price action, closing consecutively in the positive territory from March to June before dipping slightly in July to N97 from N98 in the previous month.
Since July 2020, when Julius Berger closed at N14.85 per share, the stock has remained on an upward trajectory, reaching its highest level at N130.00 per share on August 13, 2024.
The company’s share price is trading at 12x its earnings, suggesting there could be more room for share price growth.
Second Quarter Performance
In the second quarter of 2024, Julius Berger reported a revenue increase to N132.8 billion, up from N120.1 billion in the same period the previous year, marking 10.58% year-on-year growth. Despite a 20.25% year-over-year spike in the cost of sales, the company managed to increase its pre-tax profits.
According to the released financial statements for Q2, pre-tax profits rose by 12.08% year-on-year, from N7.4 billion in 2023 to N8.3 billion in 2024.
However, earnings per share (EPS) fell by 67.50% year-on-year, dropping from N2.80 in Q2 2023 to N0.91 in 2024. This decline in EPS is attributed to an increase in certain expenses reported in the company’s financial statements.
The company’s total current assets in the second quarter of 2024 grew by 76.65% year-over-year, rising from N268.07 billion in 2023 to N473.55 billion.
Additionally, cash and cash equivalents surged by 172.90% year-on-year, increasing from N66.3 billion in 2023 to N180.9 billion in Q2 2024.
At the end of the second quarter, Julius Berger announced a dividend payment of N3.00 per 50k share during its annual general meeting held on June 21, 2024.