October 30, 2017/InvestmentOne Research

he Nigerian equities market closed positive today, gaining +0.06% 

DANGFLOUR (+10.19%) was the market’s best performer while MORISON (-4.76%) was the worst performer. 

However, market breadth index closed negative as 21 stocks declined against 18 stocks that gained.  

FBNH (-0.81) led the market in terms of volume with a total of c.27m units of shares while ZENITHBANK (1.13%) led the value chart to close N401m.  

Sector Performance  

·         NSE Banking Index: Up +0.70% following the gains in ZENITHBANK (+1.13%), UBA (+2.47%) and ETI (+2.58%). 

·         NSE Consumer Goods Index: Declines in NB (-0.33%) which more than outweighed the gain in GUINNESS (+0.34%) contributed to the index closing down -0.03% 

·         NSE Oil & Gas Index: Gains in FO (+7.05%) and TOTAL (+3.11%) pushed the index up +0.06% 

·         NSE Industrial Index: Closed down -1.49% largely due to the sell-off in WAPCO (-3.85%) which neutralizes the gain in DANGCEM (+0.01%) 

Earnings Release 

·         Nestle Nigeria Plc. released its Q3 2017 numbers today which showed -1.55% q/q decline but a +29.26% y/y increase in PBT to N10.02bn 

·         Dangote Flour Mills Plc. released its Q3 2017 numbers which showed a +91.37% q/q increase and a +426.74% y/y increase in PBT to N9.21bn. 

·         Guinness Nigeria Plc. released its Q1 2018 (year end June) earnings which showed a -98.44% q/q decline but a +102% y/y increase in PBT to N41.40mn. 

Market Insight 

Driven largely by the gains in the Banking sector, the market closed positive in a relatively quiet trading session. With Q3 2017 earnings season virtually over, we are likely to see the ASI remain volatile in the absence of a positive catalyst, while activity levels may remain subdued.