Market Update 11

Market performance influenced by Q1 Earnings reports.

The market reversal on the last trading day of the month of April with strong momentum was attributed to fund managers and broker balancing their portfolio to reposition for this transition month. This window dressing and market sentiment for blue chip stocks supported the rally in the midst of weak first quarter financials released in the week.  It looks like the bull has taken over the market on the strength that the heavy weight stocks are rallied on sentiment not on strong numbers.

Stock prices  adjusted  for dividend also impacted the week negatively, a situation also likely to slow down the market in  this month of May because many companies have May for closure date of their register. Events that will unfold in this transition month will shape market direction as traders and smart investors are using first quarter earnings to shop for good stocks with strong earnings power but are under-priced. The week ended with the NSE’s All Share Index gaining 222.39 basis points (0.64 per cent) to close at 34,708.11, trading above its shortest and medium-term moving averages with improved volume.

NSE ASI

The bears held sway, dominating activities last week and controlling market breadth in all but the last trading day. More equities recorded red points in the week under review except for the last trading day that the breadth was strong, but the number of advancers for the week declined to 31, while the declinersrose from 33 to 41 equities. Generally, market sentiment was predominantly negative last week as investors geared on profit taking. Market capitalisation added about N0.740billion to close at N11.72 trillion last week.

Equally, sectoral indices struggled to shrug off further downward pressure; except for the NSE Banking index, NSE Insurance and NSE Oil & Gas (with weekly losses of 0.17, 2.34 and 6.87 percent respectively) while NSEINDSTR led the sectoral gainers with 2.79 percent weekly returns.

Market transaction level dropped last week as volume and value of trades hit southward by 43 and 30 percent respectively relative to the previous week’s level. At the close of trading activities for thefour trading days of the week, 1.17 billion shares valued at N11.96 billion were exchanged in a lower number of deals of 17,419, compared with 2.06 billion shares valued at N17.18 billion exchanged in 25,157 deals recorded in the previous trading week.

The Financial services sector maintained dormancy in terms of trades and volume, in excess of 75 per cent of total volume of trades this week. The financial services sector rally was largely driven by the interactions of investors positioning and profit taking in the banking stocks. The Conglomerates Industry followed with a turnover of 239.23 million shares worth N862.50 million in 1,157 deals. The third place was occupied by the Consumer Goods Industry with 46.98 million shares worth N2.44 billion in 2,811 deals.

During the week, the share price of Lafarge Africa, Nestle Nigeria, Dangote Sugar and Mobil oil were adjusted for the dividend declared.

Market Outlook

As predicted, a mixed market performance with expected return of positive momentum, if Q1 earnings are positive and strong to support prices. As we saw last week, the last trading day pushed the index north to resist further downward pressure and closing with a marginal gain. We expect the trend this new week as the released numbers guide traders and investors to reposition their portfolio.

STOOCKS TO WATCH

The Q1 numbers so far have revealed the earningscapacity of many companies and on the strength that earnings are a function of equity price movement in any market situation.

The following stocks are attractive at this point. Dangote Cement, Vitafoam, Zenith Bank, Access Bank, Presco, Africa Prudential and Nahco

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CORPORATE ACTIONS & RELEVANT DATES  SO FAR IN 2015
COMPANY	PERIOD	DIV	BONUS		REL.	CLOSURE	PAYMENT	AGM/EGM	AGM VENUE	TIME
	ENDED	DECLD	DECLD	REASON	DATE	DATE	DATE	DATE
Nigerian Breweries	Dec.31, 2014	N3.50		Final	2/13/2015	3/5/2015	5/14/2015	5/13/2015	LATER
Forte Oil	Dec.31, 2014	N2.50	1;5	Final	2/19/2015	4/1/2015	4/22/2015	4/15/2015	ECWA CONF HALL  LekkiAjah	10;00
Nestle Nigeria Plc	Dec.31, 2014	N17.50		Final	2/25/2015	4/27/2015	5/12/2015	5/11/2015	LATER
Neimeth International Pharm	Dec.31, 2014	nil	nil	Final	2/18/2015	3/18/2015	nil	3/24/2015	LATER
Greif Nigeria Plc	Dec.31, 2014	N0.60	nil	Final	3/4/2015	3/25/2015	5/5/2015	4/28/2015	LATER
GTBank Plc	Dec.31, 2014	N1.50		Final	3/5/2015	3/17/2015	3/31/2015	3/31/2015	LATER
Zenith Bank	Dec.31, 2014	N1.75		Final	3/5/2015	3/16/2015	3/27/2015	3/26/2015	Civic Centre V/I	10;00
Africa Prudential Registrar	Dec.31, 2014	N0.35		Final	3/9/2015	3/18/2015	4/10/2015	4/8/2015	LATER
United Capital Plc	Dec.31, 2014	N0.20	nil	Final	3/12/2015	3/23/2015	4/20/2015	4/16/2015	LATER
Lafarge Africa Plc	Dec.31, 2014	N3.60		Final	3/13/2015	4/27/2015	5/25/2015	5/22/2015	LATER
Access Bank	Dec.31, 2014	N0.35		Final	3/13/2015	4/24/2015	5/7/2015	5/7/2015	Lagoon Resturant VI	10;00
Transcorp Hotels	Dec.31, 2014	N0.37		Final	3/17/2015	3/30/2015	4/17/2015	4/15/2015	Transcorp Hotel Abuja
PZ Cussons	Feb. 28,2015	N0.20		Interim	3/20/2015	3/30/2015	4/7/2015	nil
Fcmb Holdings plc	Dec.31, 2014	N0.25		Final	3/23/2015	3/30/2015	4/24/2015	4/23/2015	Muson Centre, Onikan Lagos.
Livestock Feeds	Dec.31, 2014	N0.10		Final	3/25/2015	5/28/2015	6/18/2015	6/17/2015	Golden Tulip, AmuwoOdofin, Lagos	10;00
Mobil Oil	Dec.31, 2014	N6.60		Final	3/25/2015	4/29/2015	5/28/2015	6/4/2015	Shell Hall, Muson Center, Lagos.
Julius Berger Plc	Dec.31, 2014	N2.70	nil	Final	3/26/2015	6/1/2015	6/18/2015	6/17/2015	Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja	11;00
Sterling Bank	Dec.31, 2014	N0.06		Final	3/25/2015	4/13/2015	4/30/2015	4/30/2015	Eko Hotel & Suites, VI, Lagos.	10;00
McNichols Plc	Dec.31, 2014	N0.04	1;10	Final	3/26/2015	7/17/2015	7/27/2015	7/23/2015	Excellence Hotel, OgbaIkeja, Lagos.	10;00
Trans-Nationwide	Dec.31, 2014	N0.10		Final	3/26/2015	7/13/2015	8/7/2015	7/23/2015	Airport Hotel, Obafemi Awolowo Way Ikeja,
UBA	Dec.31, 2014	N0.10		Final	3/26/2015	4/7/2015	4/27/2015	4/24/2015	Lagos Oriental Hotel, 3 Lekki Road,
Dongote Cement	Dec.31, 2014	N6.00		Final	3/26/2015	4/20/2015	4/30/2015	4/29/2015	Civic Centre, VI Lagos.
Unilever plc	Dec.31, 2014	N0.10		Final	3/26/2015	4/13/2015	5/15/2015	5/12/2015	City Hall, Catholic Mission Street, Lagos.
Total Nigeria	Dec.31, 2014	N9.00		Final	3/25/2015	4/20/2015	6/12/2015	6/10/2015	Later
Fidson Healthcare	Dec.31, 2014	N0.15		Final	3/27/2015	Later	Later	Later	Later
Nacho	Dec.31, 2014	N0.20	1;10	Final	3/27/2015	5/18/2015	6/11/2015	6/11/2015	Abuja
Cadbury	Dec.31, 2014	N0.65		Final	3/27/2015	5/11/2015	6/11/2015	6/10/2015	Civic Centre, Lagos.
Caverton Offshore	Dec.31, 2014	N0.10		Final	3/27/2015	Later	Later	Later	Later
Diamond Bank	Dec.31, 2014	N0.10		Final	3/30/2015	4/16/2015	5/4/2015	Later	Later
Mrs Oil	Dec.31, 2014	N0.88		Final	3/30/2015	7/13/2015	8/6/2015	8/5/2015	Later
CAP	Dec.31, 2014	N0.85		Final	3/30/2015	6/1/2015	6/19/2015	6/18/2015	Golden Tulip, Festac
Custodian & Allied Insurance	Dec.31, 2014	N0.12		Final	3/29/2015	4/13/2015	5/14/2015	5/13/2015	Civic Centre, Lagos.
CCNN	Dec.31, 2014	N0.35		Final	3/30/2015	7/20/2015	8/18/2015	8/13/2015	Later
AshakaCem	Dec.31, 2014	N0.45		Final	3/31/2015	4/20/2015	5/6/2015	5/5/2015	Transcorp Hotel Abuja
GSK	Dec.31, 2014	N0.75	1;4	Final	3/29/2015	5/14/2015	6/12/2015	6/11/2015	Later
Fidelity Bank	Dec.31, 2014	N0.18		Final	3/30/2015	4/20/2015	5/7/2015	5/7/2015	Civic Centre, Lagos.
Stanbic IBTC	Dec.31, 2014	N0.15		Final	3/31/2015	4/14/2015	Later	Later	Later
Boc Gases	Dec.31, 2014	N0.10		Final	4/1/2015	5/15/2015	6/15/2015	6/11/2015	Later
Berger Paints	Dec.31, 2014	N0.75		Final	3/31/2015	6/15/2015	7/23/2015	7/21/2015	Later
Infinity Trust Mortgage Bk	Dec.31, 2014	N0.03		Final	3/31/2015	4/17/2015	5/15/2015	5/14/2015	Barcelona Hotel Abuja
Learn Africa Plc	Dec.31, 2014	N0.12		Final	3/31/2015	5/11/2015	6/5/2015	6/4/2015	Later
Okomu Oil	Dec.31, 2014	N0.25		Final	3/31/2015	5/18/2015	6/29/2015	6/24/2015	Later
Beta Glass	Dec.31, 2014	N0.62		Final	3/31/2015	6/15/2015	7/10/2015	7/9/2015	Mainland Hotel Oyingbo
UACN	Dec.31, 2014	N1.75		Final	3/31/2015	7/6/2015	7/30/2015	7/29/2015	Golden Tulip Hotel Festac
FBNH	Dec.31, 2014	N0.10	1;10	Final	4/7/2015	5/4/2015	5/25/2015	Later	Later
Transcorp	Dec.31, 2014	N0.06		Final	4/7/2015	4/21/2015	5/11/2015	5/8/2015	Transcorp Hotel Abuja
UACN property	Dec.31, 2014	N0.50		Final	4/7/2015	8/31/2015	9/23/2015	9/22/2015	Golden Tulip Hotel Festac
Chams	Dec.31, 2014	N0.02		Final	3/31/2015	4/20/2015	5/11/2015	4/29/2015	Later
Seplat	Dec.31, 2014	N18.00		Final	4/16/2015	5/22/2015	6/10/2015	6/2/2015	Civil Centre V/I
May & Baker	Dec.31, 2014	N0.05		Final	4/15/2015	4/20/2015	6/8/2015	5/28/2015	Muson Centre, Onikan Lagos.
Dangote Sugar	Dec.31, 2014	N0.40		Final	4/17/2015	4/28/2015	5/18/2015	5/15/2015	Eko Hotel & Suites, VI, Lagos.
ETI	Dec.31, 2014	nil	1;15	Final	4/21/2015	Later
Cornstorne Insurance	Dec.31, 2014	N0.02		Final	4/28/2015	7/6/2015	Later	Later
Royal Exchnage	Dec.31, 2014	N0.02		Final	4/30/2015	Later
E-Tranzact	Dec.31, 2014	N0.05		Final	4/30/2015	Later
Vitafoam	Sept.30, 2014	N0.30	1;5	Final	4/30/2015	5/19/2015	6/9/2015	Later	Later