MTN appreciates further on NSE, amid revenue tax reprieve

The nation’s bourse resumed trading for the week on Monday still on a bullish trend following investors’ interest in MTN Nigeria Communication due to the tax debt reprieve.

It was reported that MTN Nigeria Communications appreciated further with a gain of N11.60 to close at N127.60 per share, leading the ganiers’ table.

MTN Nigeria Communications on Jan. 10 said its case with the Federal Government over alleged revenue indebtedness of N242.24 billion and 1.28 billion dollars had been withdrawn.

The company said its legal counsel received a letter from the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, which formally withdrew the government’s demand for the funds.

It was trailed by UACN followed with 80k to close at N11.05, while Glaxosmithkline appreciated by 35k to close at N5.65 per share.

United Bank for Africa gained 30k to close at N8.70, while Flour Mill also grew by 30k to close at N23.30 per share.

Consequently, the All-Share Index advanced by 218.19 points or 0.74 per cent to settle at 29,633.58 against 29,415.39 achieved on Friday.

Also, the market capitalisation, which opened at N15.174 trillion, inched N113 billion or 0.74 per cent to close at N15.287 trillion.

On the other hand, Presco recorded the highest loss, declining by N4.65 to close at N52.25 per share.

BUA Cement trailed with a loss of N2 to close at N39, while Seplat dipped N1.50 to close at N588 per share.

Cadbury declined by N1.05 to close at N9.50, while Unilever was down by N1 to close at N18 per share.

The total volume of traded increased by 23.96 per cent with an exchange of 348.24 million shares valued at N8.55 billion exchanged in 5,377 deals.

This was in contrast to 280.921 million shares worth N4.82 billion traded in 5,189 deals on Friday.

Access Bank was the toast of investors during the day, accounting for 63.69 million shares valued at N682.46 million.

United Bank for Africa followed with an account of 40.63 million shares worth N354.19 million, while Zenith Bank traded 39.50 million shares valued at N861.15 million.

UACN sold a total of 24.37 million shares worth N268.65 million, while Guaranty Trust Bank traded 18.17 million shares valued at N573.719 million.