AXA Mansard Insurance Plc is in the process of partnering International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and some companies on the possibility of investing in a hospital project. The insurance firm disclosed this to the Nigerian Stock Exchange in a notification made available on Wednesday.
According to the company, the proposed investment is a greenfield integrated medical facility comprising a 150-bed multi-specialty hospital and two 10-bed primary health centres/polyclinics.
“The project once approved will be managed and operated by Healthshare Health Solutions Limited, an experienced hospital management company with headquarters in South Africa. AXA Mansard and IFC are still at the preliminary stage of discussions and their boards are yet to pass final resolutions approving the investment,” the company said.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian equities market returned to positive territory on Wednesday after two days of bear trading. Profit taking had dominated trading sessions on Monday and Tuesday following last week’s gains by some stocks.
However, the market rebounded on Wednesday on bargain hunting, pushing the NSE All-Share Index by 0.07 per cent to close at 25,496.71. Similarly, market capitalisation added N6.5 billion to close at N8.8 trillion, while year-to-date decline stood at 5.1 per cent.
The positive performance was majorly driven by gains in GTBank Plc, Nigerian Breweries Plc and FBN Holdings Plc.
But Trans-nationwide Express Plc led the price gainers’ chart with 4.6 per cent, trailed by Fidson Healthcare Plc, which went up by 4.3 per cent.
Transcorp Plc and AIICO Insurance Plc appreciated by 4.1 per cent and 3.7 per cent respectively, just as FBN Holdings Plc, Oando Plc and Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc 3.2 per cent and 3.1 per cent in that order.
Conversely, Unilever Nigeria Plc led the price losers, shedding 5.0 per cent, trailed by Lafarge Africa Plc with 4.9 per cent. Ashaka Cement Plc, Nigerian Aviation Company Plc and Jaiz Bank Plc declined by 4.9 per cent, 4.8 per cent and 4.5 per cent respectively.
Sectoral performance showed that three sectors advanced, while two declined. The NSE Banking Index rose by 0.8 per cent following gains recorded by GTBank Plc (+1.7 per cent) and Zenith Bank Plc (+0.4 per cent).
The NSE Insurance Index appreciated by 0.5 per cent due to price appreciation in AIICO Insurance Plc (+3.8 per cent) and Continental Reinsurance Plc (+2.5 per cent), just as the NSE Consumer Goods Index gained 0.3 per cent bolstered by gains recorded by Nigerian Breweries Plc (+1.2 per cent) and Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc (+2.8 per cent).
Contrarily, the NSE Industrial Goods Index dipped 2.3 per cent as investors booked profit in Lafarge Africa (-5.0 per cent). Similarly, the NSE Oil & Gas Index shed 0.6 per cent on the back of price losses in Seplat (-2.0 per cent) and Mobil (-0.6 per cent).
The total value of stocks traded on Wednesday stood at N1.25 billion, down by 35 per cent from N1.92 billion the previous day. The three most actively traded sectors were: Financial Services (210.77 million shares), Conglomerates (13.09 million shares) and Consumer Goods (12.40 million shares), while the three most actively traded stocks were: Fidelity Bank (97.57 million shares), FCMB (36.12 million) and Access Bank (17.80 million).
