Airtel Drops 10% on Wednesday to N359

• Airtel Drops 10% on Wednesday to N359

The newly listed telecommunication company, Airtel Africa, declined on Wednesday as the bearish trend persists.

Airtel Africa lost 9.99 percent from N399.3 it closed on Tuesday to N359.4 a share on Wednesday.

The telecommunication giant listed 3.75 billion ordinary shares at N363 on Tuesday and quickly rose 10 percent to close at N399.3.

The stock, however, opened lower on Wednesday to erase Tuesday’s 10 percent gain despite market capitalisation to rising to over N14 trillion.

Paul Uzum, a Lagos-based stockbroker, who had predicted on Tuesday that the stock would adjust in the coming trading sessions, said the fall in the stock price would narrow chances of price arbitrage.

He added that “The gain is not reflecting market sentiment.”

Another stockbroker, Charles Fakrogha, the head of investment banking at CityCode Trust Ltd. said it is too early to “judge the market sentiment of the price of Airtel.”

“When Airtel was listed in the market, we saw a lot of trades taking place,” Fakrogha stated.

However, MTN Nigeria, the first listed telecommunication company, led gainers on Wednesday with 3.06 percent gain or N3.95 to close at N133 a share.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange All-Share Index declined by 0.21 percent to 29,256.60.