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The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange further declined by 0.63 per cent on Friday, the fourth straight session the OTC stock market closed in the negative region this week.

The loss happened after the price of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc at the bourse closed lower by N3.46 to finish at N71.50 per unit compared with Thursday’s closing price of N74.96 per unit.

Consequently, the market capitalisation of the alternative exchange shrank by N6.75 billion to settle at N1.066 trillion, in contrast to the preceding day’s N1.073 trillion, as the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) depreciated by 4.88 points to end the day at 770.74 points as against 775.77 points it recorded at the previous session.

During the trading day, there was a 94.4 per cent decline in the volume of securities traded by investors to 23,000 units compared with the 406,829 units transacted by market participants on Thursday.

Equally, there was an 88.3 per cent shortfall in the value of shares traded at the bourse on Friday to N1.8 million from the N15.4 million reported a day earlier.

These trades were executed in four deals yesterday compared with the 35 deals carried out in the preceding trading day, indicating a decline of 88.6 per cent.

The most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis remained Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which has transacted 1.1 billion units valued at N21.2 billion, Geo-Fluids retained the second place with the sale of 625.9 units valued at N1.1 billion, while Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc was in third place with a turnover of 608.3 million units worth N48.1 million.

Also, CSCS Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 1.1 billion units worth N21.2 billion, followed by VFD Group with a turnover of 18.9 million units valued at N4.2 billion, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 625.9 million units valued at N1.1 billion.

Losses experienced in the FBN Holding Plc, Ecobank Transnational incorporated, and other financial services stocks dragged the local bourse by N257bn at the end of last week as the market capitalisation closed at N34.069tn.

The All-Share Index also dropped by 470.68 base points or 0.75 per cent to close at 62,569.73.

Ecobank Nigeria Limited and FBN Holdings are currently entangled over the recent acquisition of FBN Holdings shares by an entity associated with businessman, Oba Otudeko, a former chairman of the latter over an alleged unsettled debt of N13.5 bn.

Also, all other indices finished lower except for NGX Oil and Gas, NGX Lotus ll and NGX Industrial Goods Indices which appreciated by 1.43 per cent, 0.72 per cent and 9.01 per cent respectively, while the NGX ASeM and NGX Sovereign Bond Indices closed flat.

A total of 5,246 billion shares worth N63.417bn were traded in 57,234 deals by investors on the floor of the Exchange last week, compared to a total of 9,831 billion shares valued at N145.408bn that exchanged hands last week in 54,478 deals. This indicated a 46.64 per cent drop in the volume of stocks traded last week compared to the previous one.

Leading the activity chart of the Nigerian Exchange Limited last week was the Financial Services Industry (measured by volume) with 3,494 billion shares valued at N38.032bn traded in 28,633 deals; contributing 66.60 per cent and 59.97 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

The Conglomerates Industry followed with 451,410 million shares worth N2.186bn in 3,147 deals. The third place was the ICT Industry, with a turnover of 332.705 million shares worth N5.638bn in 4,207 deals.

Trading in the top three equities namely United Bank for Africa, Transnational Corporation Plc and FBN Holding Plc (measured by volume) accounted for 1.222 billion shares worth N15.523bn in 8,260 deals, contributing ing 23.28 per cent and 24.48 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

Twenty-nine equities appreciated during the week lower than 78 equities in the previous week. Seventy-seven equities depreciated higher than 25 in the previous week, while 50 equities remained unchanged, lower than 53 recorded in the previous week.

Atop the gainers table was Daar Communications whose shares appreciated by 50 per cent to close at N0.30. John Holt gained 44.80 per cent to close at N1.81. Ahead of a proposed merger with Dangote Sugar Refinery and Dangote Rice, the stocks of Nascon Allied Industries Plc went up by 22.49 per cent to close at N28.05.

The shares of financial services dominated the losers table with the likes of FBN Holdings losing 22.17 per cent to close at N15.80, Ecobank stocks lost 23.03 per cent to close at N12.70, Wema bank lost 25.55 per cent in its share value to close at N4.05, Sterling Holdco lost 25.42 per cent to close at N3.11, Fidelity bank stocks suffered a 24.97 per cent dip to close at N6.70. Amidst reports of proposed expansion into several African countries, the shares of Access Holdings depreciated by 20.27 per cent to close at N14.95.

Investors at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange saw their stocks swell by N34.13 billion amid sustained growth, resulting in the fourth straight weekly rise by the bourse.

Last week, which was the 27th week of trading of 2023, the market capitalisation of the unlisted stock exchange went up by 3.28 per cent to N1.074 trillion from N1.040 trillion it ended in Week 26.

Equally, the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) expanded by 24.67 points to wrap the week at 776.70 points compared with 752.03 points recorded in the previous week.

In the five days of trading, there was a 99.6 per cent decrease in the total value of transactions to N80.7 million compared to the N21.7 billion achieved in the previous week.

Also, the total volume of trades during the week dropped 99.3 per cent to 8.1 million units, in contrast to the 1.1 billion units recorded in the previous week, as the number of deals increase by 50.7 per cent to 113 deals from the 75 deals posted a week earlier.

There were seven gainers against three losers at the close of the trading week, with FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gaining 13.9 per cent to close at N79.90 per unit versus N69.98 per unit, while Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc chalked up 11.1 per cent to settle at N360.00 per share versus N275.50 per share.

Further, 11 Plc rose by 0.2 per cent to N169.40 per unit from N144.00 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc grew by 9.8 per cent to N2.87 per unit from N2.62 per unit, UBN Property Plc expanded by 9 per cent to close at N1.09 per share versus N1.00 per share, Air Liquide Plc appreciated by 10 per cent to N5.50 per unit from N5.00 per unit, and Geo Fluids Plc rose by 1.7 per cent to N3.05 per share from N3.00 per share.

On the flip side, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc depreciated by 0.01 per cent to close at N17.86 per unit verse N18,00 per unit, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc slipped by 9 per cent to 7 Kobo per share from 8 Kobo per share, and Acorn Petroleum Plc shed 5.9 per cent to 16 Kobo per unit compared with the previous week’s 17 Kobo per unit.

At the close of the week, Geo-Fluids Plc was the most traded stock by volume with 5.39 billion units, Acorn Petroleum Plc sold 1.17 million units, Food Concepts Plc exchanged 490,000 units, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc transacted 370,000 units, while IGI Plc traded 180,000 units.

By value of trades, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc topped with N28.28 million, NDEP Plc followed with N22.3 million, Geo-Fluids Plc posted N16.5 million, 11 Plc recorded N5.21 million, while Nipco Plc transacted in N3.42 million.

Oba Otudeko’s Honeywell Group has reportedly bought the largest shares of First Bank of Nigeria Holdings Plc in a cross deal worth N87.8 billion.

The shares which Otudeko bought at N19 per unit are the largest volume of First Bank shares traded in a single day since 2012 when the stock exchange started publishing data, according to a report by Arise News.

The trade has ratcheted up allegations over the validity of the trades considering that no single shareholder hitherto officially owned as many shares.

Though a press release explaining the trade is yet to be released on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, a disclosure of shareholding sent to the Company Secretary, FBN Holdings Plc and dated July 7, 2023, by Honeywell Group Limited stated that Barbican Capital Limited owned by Otudeko’s children has acquired an aggregate of 4,770,269,843 shares in FBNH.

“This is to inform the public and our stakeholders that the Company received a notification dated July 7, 2023 from Honeywell Group Limited that its affiliate, Barbican Capital Limited has acquired an aggregate of 4,770,269,843 units of shares from the Company’s issued share capital of 35,895,292,791, as at the above-referenced date. Based on the foregoing, the equity stake of Barbican Capital Limited in the Company is 13.3%”, it reads.

The firm, on the same day, in a letter signed by Adewale Arogundade, Acting Company Secretary, acknowledged the acquisitions.

Otudeko, who was chairman of First Bank until 2019, is making a swift comeback to become the single largest shareholder of the bank.

Billionaire Femi Otedola became the bank’s single largest shareholder in 2021 after a tussle with Hassan Odukale who was also vying for control of the bank after a leadership gap emerged from Otudeko’s exit.

With Otudeko now leading the battle for the control of First Bank of Nigeria Holdings Plc with 14 per cent shareholding, Otedola drops to second with nine per cent shareholding. Hassan Odukale and Mike Adenuga are joint third, each with seven percent shareholding. Saheed Arisekole is fourth with a five percent shareholding.