TUE, APRIL 16 2019-theG&BJournal- The largest and the most liquid firms otherwise known as Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) 30 Index posted a combined profit of N1.38 trillion to end 2018 financial year, a 30.17 percent increase from 2017 figure.
A breakdown of the figures shows 11 firms recorded declines at the bottom line, a vast majority of those that floundered are in the consumer goods industry.
However, the impressive numbers and dividend announcement by big companies have failed to lift the equity market as investors remain lethargic and tepid about stocks.
The Nigerian All Share (ASI) Index has lost 5.77 percent since the start of the year.
The benchmark ASI has also not breached the 30,000 points psychological mark to closing slightly lower at 29,518.85 points, only 2.57 percent higher than its 52-week low of 28,780.02 points.
Analysts say investors are angry because of the present administration’s unsure policy direction despite the successful conduct of the 2019 elections, and concern remains over overdependence on oil, poor infrastructure and not so friendly business environment.
Analysts at CSL Stock Broker Limited project a 2.0 percent growth for the Nigerian economy in 2019 while the World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) have projected a 2.0 percent and 2.2 percent growth.
“These projections point to expectation of continued sluggish recovery in the economy which could signal a tough year for Nigeria’s listed companies,” said analysts at CSL Stock Brokers.
Drilling down the figures of the NSE 30, it showed Oando Nigeria Plc’s net income surged by 113.80 percent as at December 2018, the fastest profit expansion in the oil and gas industry.
Unilever Nigeria Plc recorded 41.63 percent as at December 2018, the fastest increase among peers.
Access Bank’s net income rose by 58.0 percent to N94.98 billion as at December 2018, the fastest profit expansion among the NSE Banking 10 index.
Transcorp recorded the fastest profit growth among peers as net income grew by 94.45 percent to N20.62 billion in the period under review.
The Nigerian equities market compared favourably on valuation terms with peers in Emerging and Frontier markets as the ASI had a P/E of 7.50x compared with MSCI EM Index and MSCI FM Index P/E ratio of 11.5x and 10.70x.
“This made a strong case for investors and analysts projecting a bullish run,” said analysts at CSL Stock Brokers.
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