The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) closed January up at 15.95%, buoyed by improved macroeconomic fundamentals and renewed interest from foreign investors. To date, the All-Share Index is up 16.73%. Here are a few stocks which could witness significant price appreciation this month, as well as some that are not performing so well.
Zenith Bank
Tier one banks have taken a back seat in terms of price appreciation this year, but Zenith still has room for a bit of upside compared to GT Bank.
Interest income for GT Bank increased from N181 billion in 2016 to N248 billion in 2017. Earnings per share increased from N4.11 in 2016 to N4.14 in 2017. GT Bank closed at N49 per share on Friday’s trading session.
Zenith’s results for the 9 months ended September 2017 show gross earnings increased from N527 billion in 2016 to N531billion in 2017. Earnings per share also increased from N3.03 in 2016 to N4.11 in 2017. Zenith closed at N31.95 on Friday’s trading session.
Seplat
While Seplat’s 9 months ended 2017 results are still in the red, the losses have reduced drastically. Revenue has also increased For the 9 months ended September 2017, revenue increased from N49 billion in September 2016 to N85 billion in September 2017. The company also made an operating profit of N16.2 billion in 2017 compared to an operating loss of N13.1 billion in the comparative period of the prior year. Losses also fell from N24 billion in 2016 to N1.6 billion in 2017.
The company last year restructured some of its loan obligations and resumed crude oil exports from the Forcados terminal.
Year to date, Seplat is up 9.40%, underperforming the All Share Index, as well as other companies in the oil and gas sector.
Custodian Insurance
Custodian Insurance typically trades within a tight band of N3.00 to N4.00 but has broken out due to bullish market sentiments. At its current price of N4.28 in last week’s trading session, the stock is trading at 5.5 times its earnings.
Results for the 9 months ended September 2017 show that gross revenue increased from N27.1 billion in 2016 to N31.8 billion in 2017. Profit before tax also increased from N5.1 billion in 2016 to N6.0 billion in 2017. Earnings per share also increased from N0.66 in 2016 to N0.76 in 2017.
Lafarge Plc
Investors may have decided to overlook the stock in 2017 due to the dilutive effect of its rights issue. Proceeds of which were used to repay loans from its parent company. The company has however returned to profitability
For the 9 months ended, September 2017, revenue increased from N161 billion in 2016 to N223 billion in 2017. From a loss of N40 billion in 2016, the company made a profit before tax of N1 billion. Earnings per share have also bounced back to N0.10 from a loss per share of N8.27 in 2016.
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