Nestle hits N1,315 on NSE, lifts index by 0.55%

Nestle Nigeria continued its upward trend on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday, hitting N1,315 to lift the All-Share Index by 0.55 per cent.

Our correspondent reports that Nestle improved by N25 to close at N1,315 per share.

Mallam Garba Kurfi, the Managing Director, APT Securities and Funds Ltd., attributed the growth being experienced by Nestle to adherence to corporate governance issues in its operational dealings.

Kurfi said that the share holding structure of the company contributed to the price rally.

He stated that bulk of the companies shares were in the hands of majority shareholders who were not in a haste to dispose their holdings.

It was reported that Forte Oil followed on the gainers’ table with a gain of N2.05 to close at N43.20, while Unilever chalked up N1.79 to close at N41.89 per share.

UACN increased 60k to close at N17.50, while Cadbury rose by 58k to close at N12.33 per share.

Consequently, the All-Share Index sustained growth, improving by 205.47 points or 0.55 per cent to close at 37,709.20 in contrast with 37,250.78 recorded on Tuesday.

In the same vein, the market capitalisation appreciated by N71 billion to close at N13.132 trillion against N13.061 trillion posted on Tuesday.

Conversely, Mobil Oil topped the losers’ chart, dropping by N2.85 to close at N159.65 per share.

Lafarge Africa trailed with a loss of N1 to close at N49, while PZ Industries shed 47k to close at N22.85 per share.

National Salt dipped 25k to close at N15.35, while Stanbic IBTC shed 5k to close at N41.80 per share.

Wapic Insurance maintained its leadership as the toast of investors, accounting for 76.98 million shares worth N38.49 million.

Fidelity Bank came second with an exchange of 60.39 million shares valued at N19.18 million, while Tantalizers traded 43.99 million shares worth N21.99 million.

FBN Holdings sold 43.28 million shares valued at N302.33 million and FCMB Group transacted 31.69 million shares worth N35.16 million.

However, the volume of shares traded closed lower with an exchange of 441.81 million shares valued at N4.09 billion achieved in 4,263 deals.

This was against a turnover of 1.10 billion shares worth N4.80 billion exchanged in 4,089 deals on Tuesday.