Positive sentiment witnessed on shares of Airtel Africa Plc has resulted in investors of the company gaining about N300 billion at the close of trading of yesterday’s trading.
The addition to the company’s market capitalization followed the announcement that its Nigerian subsidiary, Airtel Networks Limited, has acquired 100 MHz of spectrum in the 3500MHz band and 2x5MHz of 2600MHz from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
The news of the acquisition had spurred investors’ appetite for the shares of the company which recorded a loss of about N507 billion at the end of last Thursday’s trading session when the domestic bourse surrendered to sell pressure and witnessed its first loss since the beginning of the New Year and ending its thirteen-day winning streak.
Share price performance: Checks by Nairametrics showed that the telecom stock gained 5.16% to close at N1, 630 per share from N1, 550 which was the opening figure at the beginning of day trading.
Further checks revealed that Airtel Africa closed the trading at N6.825 trillion in market capitalization on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) as against N5.825 trillion when the day’s trading activities began, hence has earned a gain of N300 billion or 5.16%.
Impact of the spectrum acquisition: The Managing Director of Crane Securities Limited, Mr Mike Eze in a chat with Nairmetrics said that aside from the price adjustment mechanism that Airtel and the market at large are currently experiencing, the news of the acquisition boosted investors’ confidence that gingered buy pressure on the stock.
- “The stock market world over is driven by information, either positive or negative. The news that Airtel Networks Limited has acquired 100 MHz of spectrum in the 3500MHz band and 2x5MHz of 2600MHz from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) was a much-needed tonic that spurred investors’ positive sentiment on the shares of the company.
- The acquisition is a positive development that will in the long run boost the company’s bottom line and returns on investment to long-term investors,” he said.
In case you missed it: The local bourse opened the week positive as the benchmark index grew by 0.93% to close at 51,700.36 points.
Positive sentiment on blue-chip firms lifted market activities to close on the positive rout which resulted in Airtel Africa gaining +5.16%, Nigerian Breweries Plc, +1.91%, and FBNH, +0.45% among other gainers, Consequently, the year-to-date (YTD) return rose to 0.88%, while the market capitalization gained N260.37 billion to close at N28.16 trillion.
Analysis of the day’s market activities showed trade turnover closed lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions down by 60.96%. A total of 229.22 million shares valued at N2.91 billion were exchanged in 3,900 deals.