Kayode Tokede
Airtel Africa Plc, Dangote Cement Plc and five other big companies out of 155 listed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), contributed about 62.3 per cent or N24.313 trillion to overall N39.052 market capitalisation as of November 2023.
The other companies are: MTN Nigeria Communication Plc, BUA Cement Plc, Seplat Petroleum Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, and Guaranty Trust Holdings Company Plc.
Despite double-dight inflation rate, among other macro economic challenges, the stock market that opened 2022 at N27.915trillion has appreciated steadily by 39.9 per cent or N11.14 trillion to N39.052trillion.
The seven fundamental companies have continued to show resilience, leading to improved profit amid challenging environment this year.
Specifically, Airtel Africa closed November 30, 2023 at N6.76trillion in market capitalisation when it stock price reached N1,800, an increase of 10.09per cent from N1,635.00 per share the stock opened for trading this year.
The telecommunication giant market capitalisation contributes about 17.32per per cent to overall market capitalisation in the period under review.
Dangote Cement is also the only company with market capitalisation at N5.45trillion, while MTN Nigeria Communication’s market capitalisation stood at N4.99trillion as of November 30, 2023.
The stock price of Dangote Cement has appreciated to N320 per share, a growth of 22.6 per cent from N261.00 per share it opened this year, while stock price of MTN Nigeria Communication as of November 30, 2023 was at N238 per share, representing an increase of 10.7 per cent from N215 per share it closed 2022.
BUA Cement’s market capitalisation stood at N3.5trillion when the stock price reached N104 per share as of November 30, 2023 from N97.75 per share.
Meanwhile, the likes of Seplat Petroleum, Guaranty Trust Holding Company and Zenith Bank crossed the N1trillion market capitalisation as of November 30, 2023.
Seplat Energy and GTCO with N1.36trillion and N1.15trillion market capitalisation as of November 30, 2023, while Zenith Bank hits N1.07trillion in market capitalisation as of November 30, 2023.
The stock price of Seplat Energy has gained 110 per cent Year-till-Date to N2,310.10 while GTCO’s stock price moved from N23 per share in December 30, 2022 to oN39.00 per share as of November 30, 2023.
In addition, the stock price of Zenith bank closed November 30, 2023 at N34.05 per share, representing An increase of 42 per cent from N24 per share.
The Professor of Capital Market, Nasarawa State University Keffi, Prof. Uche Uwaleke at his keynote address at the 2023 Capital Market Correspondents Association of Nigeria (CAMCAN) in Lagos said the Nigerian capital market is over-concentrated with the attendant ‘keyman’ risks, part of what is major barriers to the market development.
“This is demonstrated by the fact that only seven out of 155 listed companies account for over 60per cent of equities market capitalization,” he said.
He noted that the 155 issuers base is relatively small.
“Many eligible companies including multinational companies particularly in the telecom and oil and gas sectors remain unlisted.
“Out of the over 4 million companies registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission as at 2020, only 155 companies on NGX, and less than 50 on NASD and nine on the NGX Growth Board,” he said.
He, however, recommended that privatized government enterprises are to be listed on the NGX for the capital market to develop and support the nation’s development.
