GTbank pushes Q1 profit up by 2.3% as bargain hunting drives positive performance NSE

Also Nigerian Breweries Plc reported unaudited Q1:2020 Result that showed that its revenue declined 0.1 per cent Y-o-Y to ₦83.2 billion from ₦83.3 billion in Q1:2019 while PAT also fell 0.6 per cent Y-o-Y to ₦5.50 billion from ₦5.54 billion in Q1:2019.

Meanwhile gains in ZENITH (+5.4%), WAPCO (+9.7%) and BUACEMENT (+0.9%) buoyed market performance as the All-Share Index appreciated 66bps to close at 22,780.30 points. Consequently, market capitalisation advanced ₦78.4bn to settle at ₦11.9tn while YTD loss moderated to -15.1%. Activity level weakened as volume and value traded fell 25.6% and 20.3% respectively to 186.2m units and ₦1.9bn. The top traded stocks by volume were ZENITH (40.0m units), FBNH (30.7m units) and GUARANTY (25.8m units) while GUARANTY (₦486.8m), ZENITH (₦420.5m) and WAPCO (₦192.5m) led the value chart.

Sector performance was bullish as 4 of 6 indices under our coverage gained. Bargain hunting in ZENITH (+5.4%), GUARANTY (+3.4%) and UBN (+1.2%) drove gains in the Banking (+2.8%) index to top the gainers. Likewise, buying interest in NEM (+10.0%) and WAPCO (+9.7%) spurred increases in the Insurance (+2.0%) and Industrial Goods (+1.4%) indices. The Oil & Gas index trailed, advancing marginally by 0.2% following price appreciation in OANDO (+2.2%). Conversely, sell pressure in GUINNESS (-6.4%) drove decline in the Consumer Goods (-0.2%) index to emerge as the lone laggard while the AFR-ICT index closed flat.

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) rose sharply to 6.3x from the 0.1x recorded in the previous session as 19 stocks advanced against 3 decliners. The best performing stocks were NEM (+10.0%), WAPCO (+9.7%) and LIVESTOCK (+7.7%) while UNIONDAC (-6.5%), GUINNESS (-6.4%) and CAVERTON (-4.3%) lost the most