NGX Market Capitalisation Surpasses N70 Trillion on Strong Investor Demand for Airtel Africa, Others

The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) saw its market capitalisation cross the N70 trillion mark, driven by strong investor demand for Airtel Africa Plc and 35 other stocks. This remarkable milestone was achieved following a 10% surge in Airtel Africa’s share price, which rose by N215.60 to close at N2,372.50. This single stock contributed significantly to the overall market gain of N1.09 trillion, pushing total market capitalisation from N69.29 trillion to N70.4 trillion.

The NGX All-Share Index (ASI) also reflected the positive trend, climbing 1.6% to close at 111,606.22 basis points, up from 109,884.93. This uptick brought the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns to 5.5% and 8.4%, respectively. The strong performance was largely attributed to Airtel Africa’s gain, reinforcing its impact on the broader market.

Airtel Africa’s surge followed news of its share buy-back activity. The company disclosed it had repurchased a significant number of its ordinary shares at $0.50 each from Barclays Capital Securities Limited. This buy-back was executed under a shareholder-authorised programme announced in December 2024, aimed at boosting shareholder value. A total of 27.36 million shares have been bought back to date at an average price of 136.71 GBp.

According to Airtel Africa, the newly purchased shares will be cancelled, reducing the total number of ordinary shares in circulation to 3.66 billion. The company also confirmed that the number of voting shares now stands at approximately 3.66 billion. This adjustment is crucial for shareholders to accurately assess their interest in the company as per regulatory guidelines.

Sectoral performance across the NGX was broadly positive, with all major indices closing in the green. The Insurance Index led with a 2.2% gain, followed by the Banking and Oil & Gas Indices, both up 0.8%. The Industrial Goods Index and Consumer Goods Index also posted modest gains. However, total market volume traded dropped slightly by 1.2% to 409.57 million units. Custodian led in volume traded, while GTCO led by value, trading N1.57 billion worth of shares.

Source: This day