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The domestic stock market was down by 0.17 per cent on Wednesday after investors sold off shares in the mid and large-cap categories to book profit.

The decline in the share prices of MTN Nigeria, Nigerian Breweries, Transcorp and others weakened the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited yesterday, outweighing the gains posted by Ardova, Zenith Bank, GTCO and others.

The consumer goods sector lost 0.49 per cent during the session, eroding the growth recorded by the energy, insurance, banking and industrial goods sectors. They respectively closed higher by 0.78 per cent, 0.51 per cent, 0.17 per cent and 0.07 per cent.

When the closing gong was struck, the All-Share Index (ASI) went down by 88.71 points to 52,207.77 points from 52,296.48 points, and the market capitalisation depleted by N49 billion to N28.427 trillion from N28.476 trillion.

Transcorp topped the losers’ table in the midweek session, losing 9.49 per cent to trade at N2.29. International Energy Insurance fell by 8.87 per cent to N1.13, Union Bank lost 7.79 per cent to finish at N7.10, FCMB shed 7.28 per cent to N3.95, and Nigerian Breweries declined by 6.14 per cent to N32.85.

Leading the gainers’ table yesterday was Ardova, which rose by 9.25 per cent to N18.30, deputised by Academy Press, which appreciated by 8.90 per cent to N1.59. Cutix dropped 8.89 per cent to sell for N2.45, RT Briscoe depreciated by 8.33 per cent to 26 Kobo, and Linkage Assurance slumped by 8.16 per cent to 53 Kobo.

Transcorp was the most traded stock on Wednesday after it sold 276.5 million units valued at N631.3 million, Access Holdings exchanged 174.4 million units worth N1.8 million, Fidelity Bank transacted 31.4 million units worth N175.2 million, Chams traded 18.0 million units valued at N5.9 million, and GTCO sold 15.9 million units worth N365.2 million.

At the close of business, investors bought and sold 670.1 million shares worth N5.0 billion in 6,254 deals compared with the 550.3 million shares worth N5.2 billion traded in 6,250 deals a day earlier, indicating a decline in the trading value by 3.85 per cent, an increase in the trading volume by 21.77 per cent and a 0.06 per cent growth in the number of deals.

The Nigerian Exchange Limited on Thursday continued its upward movement with a N75bn gain for investors.

The All-Share Index moved up by 0.26 per cent or 138.26 base points to 52, 235.88. Similarly, the market capitalisation appreciated by 0.26 per cent to N28.442tn.

Buying interest in Bua Foods (+5.88 per cent), Zenith Bank (+1.11 per cent) and Stanbic (+0.54 per cent) offset losses in Nigerian Breweries (-10.00 per cent), Wapco (-0.83 per cent), and GTCO (-0.40 per cent) and drove the upturn in the market.

Market activities showed trade turnover moderated relative to the previous session, as the volume and value of transactions went down by 63.96 per cent and 9.52 per cent respectively.

A total of 2.33bn units of shares valued at N17.62bn were exchanged in 6,958 deals.

The Chairman of Transcorp Corporation Plc, Tony Elumelu, has increased his stakes in the conglomerate by 9,697,189,979 billion via HH Capital Limited, where he is a director.

In a corporate notice filed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited on Thursday, it was revealed that HH Capital bought the shares at N1.85, N2.45, N2.69 and N2.95 in transactions that took place between April 19 and 25.

This came days after the billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola, bought stakes in the conglomerate and expressed his willingness to work with the management to tap the potential of the organisation.

With this new acquisition, HH Capital Limited now holds a total of 9,991,173,177 units, representing 25.58 per cent of the group’s total shares.

The conglomerate said, “As noted in our previous communication, the company welcomes the continued expression of confidence in its leadership and management by the investing public, as we continue our unwavering commitment to superior stakeholders’ returns, anchored in our ideology of Africapitalism.

“Rest assured, we are committed to remaining resolute in executing our Group’s strategy of making strategic investments in key sectors within the Nigerian economy, transforming

Africa, and contributing positively towards building prosperity for all.”

In its 2022 financial report, Transcorp revealed that as of December 31, 2022, only UBA Nominees Limited-Trading, held five per cent or more of the issued and fully paid shares of 50 Kobo of the company.

Also, Elumelu, who is the chairman of the group directly holds 273,104,04 units of shares while 293,983,193 shares are held indirectly through HH Capital Limited and 273,545,722 shares are held indirectly through Heirs Holdings Limited.

UBA Nominees Limited has UBA Trustees Limited, Mr Emmanuel Nnorom and three others as directors and it is controlled by UBA Group, which has Elumelu as its chairman.

Meanwhile, the NGX had been notified that Otedola had bought additional 228,384,959 units of the shares of the group, bumping his percentage stake in Transcorp higher than 5.52 per cent earlier reported.

Speaking on Otedola’s investment in Transcorp in an interview on Arise TV, Elumelu said, “He’s my very good friend. In fact I only follow two people on Instagram, my wife and Femi Otedola, that shows the level of friendship we have.

“He’s a man I admire and we call ourselves brothers. I welcome Femi, I call him FO or Ote-Dollar. I welcome his investment in Transcorp. We go on international roadshows and talk to investors to invest in our companies. I am happy to see an active indigenous investors community.”

Fidelity Bank has said its gross earnings rose by 34.4 per cent YoY to N337.1bn in 2022 financial period, driven by 45.2 per cent growth in interest and similar income to N295.6bn.

It said this in a statement on Thursday on its 2022 audited financial statements released on the Nigerian bourse.

The increase in interest income was led by a combination of improved yield on earning assets and 19.1 per cent YoY expansion in earnings base to N2.64tn.

This led to a profit before tax of N53.7bn representing 112.9 per cent annual growth.

Commenting on the bank’s performance, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Fidelity Bank Plc, Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, said, “We are happy to report another year of impressive double-digit growth across key income and balance sheet lines. This validates our growth strategy and capacity to deliver superior returns to shareholders.”

Further review showed that net interest income increased by 60.9 per cent YoY to N152.7bn.

The high yield environment had a positive impact on net interest margin, which increased to 6.4 per cent from 4.7 per cent in 2021FY while average funding cost inched up slightly to 4.6 per cent from 4.2 per cent.

Similarly, total deposits increased by 27.4 per cent to N2.58tn from N2.02tn in 2021FY, in line with the bank’s guidance for 2022FY published in its investor relations presentation.

The increase was driven by 43.1 per cent growth in low-cost deposits (Demand/savings/domiciliary), which resulted in improved margins.

Speaking on the contribution of foreign currency deposits to its financial performance, Onyeali-Ikpe noted, “FCY deposits increased by $597m (63.4 per cent YoY) to $1.5bn and now accounts for 27.5 per cent of total deposits from 19.7 per cent in 2021FY, as we continue to harness the benefits of our renewed drive in the export business and the diaspora banking space.”

Historically, the statement said, Fidelity Bank had maintained high asset quality and a healthy balance sheet with its regulatory ratios well above the minimum regulatory thresholds.

It reported a liquidity ratio of 39.6 per cent and Capital Adequacy Ratio at 18.1 per cent compared to the minimum regulatory requirement of 30.0 per cent and 15.0 per cent respectively. Its non-performing loans ratio remained unchanged at 2.9 per cent for the year.

Investors are beginning to have confidence in the domestic stock market as the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited appreciated by 0.95 per cent on Wednesday.

40 equities finished on the gainers’ chart during the trading session, while seven shares were on the losers’ table, indicating a positive market breadth and a bullish investor sentiment.

This helped push the All-Share Index (ASI) above 52,000 points after it increased by 491.13 points to 52,097.62 points from 51,606.49 points, as the market capitalisation grew by N267 billion to N28.367 trillion from N28.100 trillion.

Academy Press and Livestock Feeds gained 10.00 per cent each to finish at N1.43 and N1.10, respectively, as Total Energy grew by 9.96 per cent to N217.50, Cadbury Nigeria appreciated by 9.80 per cent to N11.20 and Honeywell Flour rose by 9.80 per cent to N2.80.

Conversely, Fidelity Bank lost 6.57 per cent to trade at N5.26, Fidson fell by 5.56 per cent to N8.50, Linkage Assurance depreciated by 4.35 per cent to 44 Kobo, AXA Mansard depleted by 3.28 per cent to N2.36, and Jaiz Bank went down by 3.26 per cent to 89 Kobo.

Transcorp topped the activity chart with the sale of 6.1 billion stocks valued at N15.6 billion, Aluminium Extrusion sold 112.5 million shares valued at N731.5 million, Access Holdings transacted 60.5 million equities worth N632.3 million, UBA traded 27.6 million shares valued at N218.0 million, and Fidelity Bank sold 22.3 million stocks for N123.6 million.

A total of 6.5 billion equities valued at N19.5 billion were transacted in 5,109 deals in the midweek session, in contrast to the 2.1 billion equities worth N8.9 billion transacted in 6,404 deals on Tuesday, implying a decline in the number of deals by 20.22 per cent, and a surge in the trading volume and value by 209.52 per cent and 119.10 per cent, respectively.

Analysis of the sectorial performance did not really reflect the outcome of the bourse yesterday as the consumer goods, energy, and banking sectors depreciated by 0.13 per cent, 0.12 per cent, and 0.08 per cent apiece, while the insurance and the industrial goods indices appreciated by 0.93 per cent and 0.16 per cent, respectively.