The stocks of top cement companies on Wednesday closed in the downline as investors sold off stakes in the shares of Dangote Cement despite impressive Q1 2021 results.
Data tracked on the Nigerian Stock Exchange revealed that the shares of Nigeria’s most capitalized company lost a whopping N92 billion in market value, at the back of a 2.49% decline in the share price of the leading cement producer.
On the flip side, shares of BUA Cement, another key producer in the Nigerian cement industry closed flat on the exchange today, while Lafarge Africa lost a meagre N1.6 billion of its market capitalization, triggered by a 0.47% decline in its share price.
The impact of this decline on the NSE Industrial Index
The 2.49% decline in the shares of Dangote Cement weighed heavily on the Industrial index, an index that tracks the performance of industrial companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
At the end of the market today, the industrial index closed lower at 1918.94 index points, driven by the N92 billion market value loss which Dangote Cement suffered today on the exchange.
The index depreciated by 1.19% to print its biggest loss in a day since the 3oth of March when it depreciated by 1.90%.
Decline in Dangote Cement and MTN Nigeria shares weighed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange
The Nigerian Stock Exchange NGX, closed on a negative note today largely occasioned by the decline in the shares of MTN Nigeria and Dangote Cement.
The shares of MTN Nigeria suffered a market value decline of 4.65%, to close the day lower at N162 per share as investors continue to price in the impact of regulatory restrictions on new SIM sales and activations on the revenue and earning power of the company. Mobile subscribers on the MTN’s network declined by 5 million to 71.5 million in the first quarter of 2021.
This bearish sentiments in the shares of MTN and Dangote Cement both led to the NGX All-Share Index and market capitalization decline of 0.92%, to close lower at 39,111.30 index points and N20.468 trillion respectively.
