Strong Fundamentals Rally NAHCO’s Return To 2,048% In 12 Years

The stock price of Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) Plc has surged by an impressive 2,048 per cent in 12 years, driven by strong company fundamentals.

An investor who staked N1 million on Nigerian Aviation Handling Company shares 12 years ago has seen his investment rise to N21.5 million due to sustained capital appreciation.

The current shareholdings value excludes cash dividends received over the years. Stock market analysis for the period between August 20, 2013 and August 20, 2025, showed that an investment of N1 million in NAHCO in 2013 now has a total share value of N21.5 million, representing a cumulative return of 2,048 per cent over the 12 years and an average annual return of 170.64 per cent.

The total share value of N21.5 million included two bonus issues undertaken by the company during the period but excluded cash dividends paid by the company, which is noted for consistent cash dividend payment.

With N1 million, total shareholdings stood at 158,730 shares at the beginning of the prototype portfolio and closed the period with about 209,524 shares.

NAHCO had declared bonus shares of one share for every 10 shares held in 2015 and followed this with a bonus of one for every five shares held in 2022.

NAHCO, which was privatised in 2005 and currently has more than 72,000 shareholders, has emerged as one of the best-performing stocks in the Nigerian stock market, with a return more than six times higher than the average annual return.

The aviation handling group is headlining the stock market as the indicative stock for the wealth-creating potential of the Nigerian stock market after recording a cumulative capital gain of 2,048 per cent over a 12-year period, as against 287.23 per cent recorded by the benchmark index for the market.

NAHCO recorded an average annual capital gain of 170.64 per cent over a 12-year period, compared with 23.94 per cent recorded by the overall stock market benchmark index.

Market analysts said stocks like NAHCO underscored the stock market’s wealth-creating and distributing capacity, building up significant gains for investors over a period of time. They attributed NAHCO’s capital gain to the continuing growth in operations and improvements in management.

Managing director of GTI Capital Limited, Kehinde Hassan, described the linkage between fundamentals and share pricing trends as the relationship between a building’s foundation and its strength and height.

He noted that while the stock market may be influenced temporarily by emotions, speculations and immediate macroeconomic development, solid fundamentals remain the ultimate support base that ensures that a company retains value over the years. The managing director of HighCap Securities, David Adonri, said the performance of NAHCO underlined its strong fundamentals.

According to him, the capital market is information-driven, as all the information available about an issuer or a company, as well as macroeconomic fundamentals and the sociopolitical environment now and into the foreseeable future, is priced into the value of securities.

“A stock like NAHCO has appreciated heavily over the years because of its strong fundamentals, high dividend yield and consistent dividend payout. Over time, there is a correlation between a company’s fundamentals and growth in its market value,” Adonri, a senior investment banker, said.