February 16, 2018/InvestmentOne Report

The Nigerian equities market sustained its uptrends as ASI advanced by +0.10% in today’s trading session but down -1.13% WTD. 

However, Market breadth index closed negative as 10 stocks gained against 30 stocks that declined. 

NASCON (+5.00%) topped the gainers’ chart while COURTVILLE (-9.52%) was the worst performer. 

The most actively traded stock was LINKASSURE with c.300million units of shares worth c.N246m. 

Sector Performance  

·         NSE Consumer Goods Index: Closed up by +1.16%, largely driven by the buy interest in NASCON (+5.00%), NESTLE (+4.09%), CADBURY (+2.03%) and INTBREW (+0.43%). 

·         NSE Banking Index: Performance was down by -0.51% on the back of the losses in FCMB (-5.00%), STERLNBANK (-3.24%), ACCESS (-2.33%) and UBA (-1.62%). 

·         NSE Industrial Index: Lost -0.17% on account of the sell-off in CAP (-4.60%) and MULTIVERSE (-2.78%). 

·         NSE Oil and Gas Index: Closed flat. 

Earnings Release 

·         Nigerian Breweries Plc released its Q4 2017 results yesterday which showed  a Profit before tax of N12.20bn in Q4 2017 compared to PBT of N369.89m in Q3 2017; up +2.72% y/y. 

Market Insight 

The Nigerian bourse closed positive today largely due to the gains in NESTLE and ZENITHBANK. Going forward, we expect the market to trade sideways as investors continue to take positions in this earnings season. Nonetheless, the Nigerian equities market may be affected by the sentiments in the global equities markets in the near term. Despite the sell-off we saw in the market recently, we believe this may present entry opportunities into our quality names for investors with a medium to longer term horizon. 

TOP PICKS: ACCESS, DANGCEM, GUARANTY, NB, NESTLE, UBA & ZENITHBANK