The week started on a positive note monday as the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index rose 2.22 per cent to close at 39,685.34, compared with a marginal loss of 0.01 per cent on the last day of last week.
However, the 2.22 per cent jump yesterday was influenced by a 10 per cent rise in the share price of Dangote Cement Plc. The stock, which accounts for 27 per cent of the NSE market capitalisation, rose N20 to close at N220 per share, which is New Year high.
The DCP gain added N140 billion to the market capitalisation of the exchange and accounted for the 50 per cent of the N276 billion recorded yesterday. The market capitalisation rose from N12.427 trillion to N12.703 trillion.
While some market operators said the high demand for DCP’s shares is driven by speculative trading, others said some investors were attracted by the nine months results of the company where it recorded a growth of 36 per cent in profit.
The cement firm’s profit before tax (PBT) rose to N151.73 billion indicating an increase of N45 billion over N106.43 billion in 2012, while operating profit rose by 36.4 per cent to N156.89billion.
Revenue for the period under review went up by N64 billion or 28.7 per cent to N288.98 billion compared with N244.50 billion of the preceding year.
Commenting on the results, Group Managing Director, Dangote Cement, Devakumar Edwin, said demand for cement remains strong in Nigeria with company recording sales nearly 30 per cent higher than last year.
“As we predicted in July, the gas supply to Obajana was lower than desired during the third quarter and we are looking for additional sources of gas and other fuels such as coal to keep us fully supplied in the coming years.”
Apart from DCP that rose 10 per cent, other price gains appreciated between 0.12 per cent and 4.7 per cent. In all, there were 18 price gainers compared with 29 price losers.
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