The total market capitalisation of the Nigerian Stock Exchange for the year ended December 31, 2011 hit N10.28tn.

This figure represents a marginal decline of 5bn or 0.48 per cent compared to N10.33tn recorded at the end of December 2010.

According to the NSE, this figure is made up of secondary equity issues, Exchange Traded Funds on the NSE, and an increase in state and corporate bond issues.

However, the market capitalisation of the listed equities alone stood at N6.54tn, representing a decline by N17.42 per cent compared to N7.92tn recorded in December 2010.

This was disclosed by the President of the NSE, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, in his statement at the 51st Annual General Meeting of the NSE in Lagos on Friday.

He noted that in the period under review, the market capitalisation of all 201 listed equities, made up of 198 stocks and three preference stocks, accounted for 63.62 per cent of total market capitalisation, while in 2010, 217 listed equities accounted for 76.67 per cent of the total market capitalisation.

He said, “While investors and market operators grappled with difficult local conditions, the market proved it was not isolated from events affecting local and global financial markets and economies.

“This trend, however, was counterbalanced by the NSE’s delivery of key initiatives for the development of the capital market.”

He explained further at the meeting that a total of 89.58 billion units worth N634.92bn were exchanged by investors in 2011, representing a 4.03 per cent decline in trading volume and 20.39 per cent decline in the value of units traded, compared to the previous year.

The Financial Services sector dominated the ‘top 20’ list of companies recording the highest trading volumes with 18 companies.  A total of 39.29 billion bank shares valued at N353.19bn  were traded, representing 43.86 per cent of the total volume traded.

Dangote assured that the focus of the Exchange in the coming months would be aimed at restoring investors’ confidence.

He said, “Despite recent challenges, the capital market remains an indispensable vehicle to ensure Nigeria’s continued development. In 2011, the NSE set a broad objective to create an African institution that would compete effectively in the global marketplace

“Therefore, our action plan is that we want to keep encouraging Nigerians to keep investing in the market by doing a lot of things. The whole issue is about confidence and I think when we succeed in bringing confidence back to the market, a lot of Nigerians will be investing in the market.”

He observed that the slowdown in the bonds market was gradually driving investors back to the equity, while attributing the rebound recorded in the last one month to the factor.

Source: Punch/Udeme Ekwere