The latest disclosures from the Nigerian Exchange Group have shown that a total of N69,378,297.12 was divested from the listed company by investors in March 2023.

Investors sold a combined 2,666,451 shares after the audited financial statement of the group showed profit plunged from N2.248 billion reported in the 2021 financial year to N698.482 million in the financial year ended December 31, 2022.

A breakdown of the disclosures signed by Obehi Ikhaghe, Ag. Company Secretary done by Investors King showed that the MIRI Strategic Emerging Markets Fund LP, Substantial Shareholder, sold 1,480,000 units of shares at N26.09 per share on 03 March 2023.

Pivot Capital Limited, a company related to a Statutory Audit Committee Member, Mr. Samuel Adejumo, relinquished 71,923 units at N26.40 a unit on 07 March 2023.

Somafam Global Concepts, also related to Mr. Samuel Adejumo, a Statutory Audit Committee Member, disposed of 20,000 units of shares at N26.45 per share on 07 March 2023.

Between March 06 and 07, 2023, MIRI Strategic Emerging Markets Fund LP sold another 1,094,528 units of shares at N25.89 a share.

The Nigerian Exchange Limited reported N7.499 billion in revenue and other income in 2022 while profit before minimum tax and income tax expense declined to N823.089 million from N2.401 billion filed in 2021 financial year.

Therefore, after paying N124.607 million in income tax expense for the 2022 financial year, the company announced N692.482 million in profit after tax.

While the decline has been consistent since the company was listed, aggressive selling by Mr. Samuel Adejumo, a Statutory Audit Committee Member of the company with presumable knowledge of the company’s financial position underscores the deteriorating state of the company.

The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) rebounded from its N1 billion loss of Tuesday to post a N107 billion gain on Monday ahead of the governor elections.

Investors transacted 152.743 million shares worth N3.573 billion in 3,293 transactions during the trading hours Wednesday, with the stock of Courtville emerging as the most traded equity with 34.604 million shares worth N16.609 million exchanging hands.

UBA and GTCo followed with 15.001 million and 15.001 million shares valued at N127.311 million and N335.934 million.

The market value of listed equities grew by N107 billion to N30.398 trillion while NGX All-Share Index expanded by 0.36% to 55,801.14 index points.

The financial sector index appreciated by 6 basis points (bps) with the stock of Union Bank of Nigeria leading the chart with 2.27%.  The industrial sector index gained 84bps while consumer goods posted a 6 bps gain and the oil and gas sector lost 90 bps.

A total of 18 stocks gained points while 18 stocks lost points.

Top Five Gainers 

Top Five Losers 

Top Five Trades

The Nigerian stock market rallied on Monday after it became clear that All Progressive Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Ahmed Bola Tinubu could emerged as Nigeria’s president.

The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-share Index rose by 0.69% to 55,328.42 index points while the market value of the listed equities grew by N207 billion to N30.140 trillion, signaling investors acceptance of Tinubu candidacy.

Investors transacted 149,780,851 shares worth N1.542 billion in 3,186 deals during the trading hours of Monday as Stanbic Bank lead top gainers with 10% or N3.45 gain to close at N37.95 a unit. This was followed by Oando’s 0.40 kobo or 10% to close at N4.40 a unit. See other details below.

Top Five Gainers

Top Five Losers

Nigeria’s Presidential Polls: A Tumultuous Process

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s 2023 Presidential elections have been riddled with controversy and logistical difficulties. The provisional results in 20 of 36 states, as reported by Reuters, showed the ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu in the lead with 39.7% or 5.4 million of the valid votes counted. Atiku Abubakar of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) received 32.2% or 4.4 million votes, with Peter Obi of the smaller Labour Party in third place with about 16.3% or 2.2 million votes.

Despite Tinubu’s lead, opposition parties have cited concerns of fraud and walked out of the counting process. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) failed to upload results directly from each polling unit to its website, as promised, which resulted in the manual collation of results inside ward and local government counting centres. This led to a lack of transparency in the electoral process, which the European Union observer mission noted in a statement, saying that “INEC’s lack of efficient planning in critical stages and effective public communication reduced trust in the process.”

The Commonwealth observer mission chief, Thabo Mbeki, also criticized INEC for its failure to upload the results, adding to the already mounting pressure on the electoral commission. INEC had uploaded results from just 66,167 polling units out of a total of 178,846 by 1700 GMT on Monday, according to their website.