Equities

The ASI gains 19bps

For the third time this week, the ASI closed positive, gaining 19bps. Consequently, investors gained N347.31 billion, following buying interest in DANGCEM (+2.34%), INTBREW (+3.77%), and OANDO (+2.01%), which offset profit-taking in ARADEL (-4.16%) and ACCESSCORP (-1.50%). In the same vein, market sentiment was bullish as 38 winners outpaced 25 losers, implying a market breadth of 1.5x. CHELLARAM (+10.00%) and HONYFLOUR (+10.00%) emerged as joint best-performing counters, while GUINEAINS (-10.00%) led the laggards.

In terms of trade metrics, the volume traded increased to 497.36 million units (+17.97%), while the value traded decreased to N11.84 billion (-21.04%). FBNH topped the volume and value charts with 83.14 million units (16.72% of total volume traded) exchanged at N2.42 billion (20.41% of total value traded).

Mixed sectoral performance

The Industrial goods (+1.16%), Consumer Goods (+0.90%), and Insurance (+0.24%) indices closed positive, owing to investors accumulating units of DANGCEM (+2.34%), INTBREW (+3.77%), and CORNEST (+4.88%), respectively. On the other hand, the Oil & Gas (-1.19%) and Commodity (-0.86%) indices declined, following selloffs in ARADEL (-4.16%), while the Banking (-0.47%) index declined due to selloffs in ACCESSCORP (-1.50%).

Equity announcement

Airtel Africa plc (AIRTELAFRI "" TP: N3,209.08) reported a 124.0x jump in its PAT to $248.00 million for the nine-month period that ended in December 2024. This earnings improvement came about as a result of a more stable FX profile across its Operating Companies (OpCo), as it meant that the FX losses which dragged earnings in the prior period did not reoccur. The ongoing strategy of increasingly localising debt to clear up FCY borrowings at the OpCo levels also supported the company's earnings profile. See full result here.

FCMB Group Plc (NGX: FCMB"”TP: N12.62) reported a 15.9% YoY growth in Profit After Tax (PAT) to N107.8 billion in its unaudited FY'24 results. The performance was primarily driven by higher interest income, fuelled by a 44.1% expansion in Interest-Earning Assets (IEA) combined with the 3.1ppts uptick in asset yields. Consequently, Earnings Per Share (EPS) rose to N5.45, up from N4.70 in FY'23. See full result here.

Bonds

The FGN secondary bond market was bullish today with activity across the short-end (-12bps), mid-segment (-10bps), and long-end (-2bps) of the yield curve. Accordingly, the average yield on FGN bonds moderated by 8bps to settle at 20.62%.

Money market

The interbank rates"”OPR and OVN"”declined by 36bps and 50bps, respectively, to settle at 26.58% and 27.00%, respectively.

Kindly click here for the summary of activities in the market today

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