October 28, 2024/CSL Research

The bullish momentum from the prior week continued into the just concluded week with the benchmark index closing each session strong, largely fuelled by impressive Q3’24 earnings and dividend reinvestments. Consequently, the NGX All-Share Index rose by 141bps w/w to 99,448.91 points, pushing the year-to-date (YTD) return to 33.00% (up from 31.16% the previous week).

Banking stocks led the rally, particularly the Tier-1 banks, with UBA (+18.50% w/w), FBNH (+10.58% w/w), and ZENITHBANK (+6.54% w/w) seeing significant buy interests. SEPLAT also gained 9.25% w/w following the Federal Government of Nigeria’s approval of its purchase of Exxon Mobil’s onshore assets. Sector performance was mixed, with Banking – NGXBNK (+7.86% w/w), Insurance – NGXINS (+4.4% w/w), Oil & Gas – NGXOILGAS (+3.95% w/w), and Industrial Goods – NGXINDUSTR (+0.10% w/w) closing in the positive territory, while Consumer Goods – NGXCNSMRGDS (-0.84% w/w) declined. UBA and SEPLAT emerged as the most actively traded stocks by volume and value, respectively.

Amongst several earnings releases in the week, UNILEVER Plc reported robust growth, with a 45.8% y/y increase in Revenue to ₦103.85bn in its 9M’24 results while Profit After Tax (PAT) surged by 559.2% y/y to ₦11.01bn. Investor sentiment was strong on the ticker, pushing the stock up by 18.42% w/w. DANGCEM also delivered notable 9M’24 results, with Revenue rising by 69.1% y/y to ₦2.56tn while pre-tax profit was relatively flat at ₦406.39bn (+0.4% y/y). Conversely, GUINNESS reported a Q1’25 Loss Before Tax of ₦16.03bn, pressured by FX challenges and high import costs, despite a 111.4% y/y rise in Revenue to ₦125.89bn.

Looking ahead, we anticipate mixed trading sentiments through the week as investors continue to react to the release of company results.

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