10 Stockbroking Firms Trade N343.6bn Stocks In Q1

APT Securities & Funds Limited and nine others stockbroking firms in the Nigeria’s capital market traded stocks of 22.081 billion units of shares valued at N343.614 billion in the first quarter (Q1) of 2023.

The value of shares traded by the top 10 stockbroking firms among the 189 active firms represented 64.61 per cent of the total trades registered while in terms of volume, it accounted for 61.20 per cent of the total volume.

This was contained in the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Broker Performance Report for March 2023.

APT Securities and Funds recorded the highest transactions worth N93.799 billion, representing 17.64 per cent of the total value of the transactions for the period. Cardinalstone Securities followed with a transaction worth N67.556 billion, representing 12.70 per cent of the total value of transactions, while Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers pulled transaction worth N58.018 billion.

EFG Hermes Nigeria sold stocks valued at N26.501 billion, while Cordros Securities’ transaction valued at N23.597 billion in the first three months of the year.

PAC Securities, Meristem Stockbrokers, Chapel Hill Denham Securities, FBN Quest Securities and APEL Asset pulled transactions valued at N16.104 billion, N15.485 billion, N15.441 billion, N14.778 billion and N12.334 billion.

Meanwhile, in terms of the volume of shares sold, APEL Asset came top with 7.678 billion shares sold, representing 21.28 per cent of the total volume of shares sold in Q1. Cardinalstone Securities followed with volume of 3.317 billion shares, while PAC Securities handled volume of 2.360 billion shares.

APT Securities and Funds pulled 1.781 billion, while Morgan Capital Securities transacted 1.471 billion shares. Meanwhile, investors in Nigerian equities rallied net capital gains of about N2.441 trillion in Q1, 2023, while the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 5.11 per cent to close on March 31, 2023 at 54,232.34 points.

Financial analysts noted that “the positive sentiment during the period was attributed to change in the holding structure of the market since foreign investors left the market on the grounds of COVID-19 and local investors dominated with increased buying interest due to the better-than-expected corporate earnings post-COVID and higher dividend payouts.”

A report from Cordros Securities Limited said: “we expect investors positioning for 2022 full year results ahead of upbeat corporate earnings and re-investment of dividends to drive bullish sentiments in Q1, 2023.

“Nevertheless, in the latter part of the year, we believe that market sentiments will be shaped by a combination of the outcome of the 2023 elections; market-friendly policy or reforms; the direction of monetary policy and impact on fixed income yields; sector-specific events; and the weak macroeconomic environment.”

The investment firm added that, “we believe there is scope for slight expansion in valuation multiples in H1, 2023 as long as corporate earnings remain resilient. Thus, investors will likely continue to seek relative safety in value stocks as they remain concerned about the market’s volatility, political and economic uncertainties, and higher interest rates.”