Lafarge Africa Plc, one of the leading cement manufacturers in Nigeria, has gained almost N71 billion in the past three trading sessions on NSE, pushing the market capitalization of the cement manufacturer to N384.98 billion.

Lafarge whose shares peaked at N30.3 this year, saw its share price increase from N19.5 on the 3rd of March 2021 to N23.90 at the close of trading activities on March 8 2021 after enduring a massive sell down in recent weeks.

According to data tracked on the NSE website, this move led to a N70.87 billion gain in the market capitalization of Lafarge Africa in three trading sessions on the local bourse.

This impressive gains in Lafarge’s shares and market value were triggered by buying pressures from bargain hunters who took position in the company after its share price slumped to N19.5 per share.

• At the time of writing this report, Lafarge was the tenth most capitalized company on NSE with a market capitalization of N384.98 billion, behind Nigerian Breweries with a market capitalization of N395.85 billion.
• A total of 5,380,311 units of Lafarge ordinary shares worth N129,602,973.90, were exchanged on the bourse in 185 deals on Monday 8th March 2021.
• The shares of the cement manufacturer gaining a total 7.66% or N1.7 to close higher at N23.9 on the 8th of March 2021.

What you should know

• Lafarge Africa Plc, a subsidiary of LafargeHolcim, a world leader in building materials, is a leading cement manufacturing company in Sub-Saharan Africa with a current installed cement production capacity of 10.5Mtpa.
• The cement manufacturer has a wide operational footprint in Nigeria strategically positioned in three Geo-political zones in the country which include; the South West (Ewekoro and Sagamu in Ogun State), North East (Ashaka, in Gombe State), South East (Mfamosing, Cross Rivers State).
• The company also has a ready-mix operation in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt.

In an effort to cut down on deadweight cost, the Board of Lafarge Africa Plc has resolved to sell off its 35% stake in Continental Blue Investment Ghana Limited – a move that will see the company cut down on costs impacting the Group’s profit.

This is not the first time the company has had to sell off an unproductive investment, in August 2019, Lafarge Africa sold off all its stakes in Lafarge South Africa Holdings (LSAH).

Nigeria’s total foreign trade for the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2020 rose to N9.12 trillion, representing an increase of 8.88% compared to N8.38 trillion recorded in the previous quarter.

This is according to the foreign trade report, recently released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

READ: Nigeria’s foreign trade drops to N8.3 trillion, down by 18% in Q1 2020

According to the report, total imports stood at N5.93 trillion, 10.1% increase compared to N5.38 trillion recorded in Q3 2020, while total export rose by 6.72% from N2.99 trillion to N3.19 trillion.

Also, Nigeria’s trade balance plunged further by 14.3% from a N2.39 trillion deficit recorded in the third quarter of 2020 to N2.73 trillion deficit in Q4 2020.

More details shortly…