As we looking forward to a better 2018 for stocks, we look back at the stocks that made 2017 an amazing year for investors.
The Financial Year ended December 2017 was a fantastic year for Nigerian Stocks having returned a whopping 42% year to date. This compares to negative returns of -16.1%, -17.4% and -6.2% in 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively.
At a 42% return, the Nigerian Stock Exchange closed a blistering 2017 with its highest return since 2013 (4 years) and the third best in the last 10 years.
The index also closed the month of December with a 0.79% gain while the 4th quarter return was 7.91%.
The Nigerian Stock Market is also named among 4 of the best stock markets in the world, based on year to date performance. Nigeria was only third behind Argentina and Turkey with the US S&P in 5th place.
The impressive performance of stocks in 2017 is largely reflective of some key monetary policy decisions made by the Central Bank of Nigeria in the early months of the year. For example, the launched the Investor/Exporter window which ostensibly brought back confidence into the market, luring local institutional and foreign investors, who had waited on the sidelines for years to reinvest in the stock market.
Another plausible reason was that the economy also recorded marginal improvements, particularly in key sectors such as banking, consumer goods and industrials. With corporate profits on track to set new records in 2018, investors poured in billions, raising the valuation of stocks, which were hitherto flat.
Key highlights from 2017
- The top 5 stocks this year made between 186 and 227% return in 2017 alone.
- So, if you had invested in those stocks early in the year and held on till the end, that is how much you would have made.
- Also, 73 stocks posted positive returns in 2017 as against 38 that reported losses, while 63 stocks posted zero returns.
- Out of the 73 stocks that posted positive returns, 66 of them posted double digit returns.
The performance of the Nigerian Stock Market in 2017, makes it one of the stock markets to watch in 2018. With performance like these, we expect to see even more interest investing in Nigeria.
You may also want to know what stocks made 2017 a stellar year. Here they are;
Best Performing Stocks
Dangote Sugar was the best performing stock for the year. It closed with a return of 227% in 2017 alone. Dangote Sugar performance was on the back of its impressive results during the year. As at September 2017, its earnings per share was N2.21 compared to N84 in the same period in the prior year.
Next was International Breweries with 195% return. International Breweries did this well following mergers with its sister companies and new investments from its parent company SAB Miller.
Fidelity Bank was the best performing banking stock during the year, returning about 193% in 2017 alone. Fidelity Bank has also seen its earnings per share rise from 40 kobo to 67 kobo following its 9 months 2017 results.
Other notable gains during the year are Fidson, Stabic IBTC, First Bank, UBA, NASCON and Nestle.
On the Losers side
Forte Oil, Julius Berger, Mobil all make up some of the blue chip companies that lost double digits during the year.
You can get the full list of best and worst stocks in the table below;
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