The Nigerian equities market closed trading session on a bearish note on Wednesday, as the market benchmark index, the All-Share Index fell by 0.35 percent to 97,296.57 points.
Consequently, the market capitalization also declined by 0.35 percent to ₦58.97 trillion, resulting in investor losses of approximately ₦208 billion due to intensified sell-offs.
At the close of trading, there were 23 gainers compared to 26 losers.
Among the top gainers were SUNUASSUR, GUINEAINS, CONOIL, DAARCOMM, and NASCON, which recorded share price increases of 9.97 percent, 8.16 percent, 6.56 percent, 6.56 percent, and 6.23 percent, respectively.
Conversely, the top decliners included JOHN HOLT, ARADEL, ETERNA, HMCALL, and UPDC, with share price decreases of 10.00 percent, 9.98 percent, 9.88 percent, 8.43 percent, and 8.13 percent.
Sectoral performance was mixed but leaned positive: the banking, insurance, oil & gas, and industrial goods sectors posted gains of 0.14 percent, 1.24 percent, 1.02 percent, and 0.02 percent, respectively, while the consumer goods sector saw a decline of 0.34 percent.
Trading activity remained robust, with increases of 0.86 percent, 48.97 percent, and 28.07 percent in the number of deals, trading volume, and value, respectively.
A total of 822.46 million shares were traded across 9,385 deals, amounting to ₦10.29 billion.
HMCALL dominated in both trading volume and value, with 373.7 million units worth ₦2.2 billion exchanged in 342 deals.
Access Holdings completes acquisition of subsidiary banks in Angola, Sierra Leone
Access Holdings Plc said it has perfected the acquisition process of two additional banks to further expand its operation to other African countries.
Announcing the development in a notice to investors through the Nigerian Exchange Limited, the company secretary, Sunday Ekwochi said the bank has completed the acquisition of Standard Chartered Bank Angola S.A. and Standard Bank (Sierra Leone) Limited.
“Access Holdings Plc (‘Access Holdings’ or ‘the Company’) is pleased to announce that its flagship subsidiary, Access Bank Plc (‘Access Bank’ or ‘the Bank’) has completed the acquisition of Standard Chartered Bank Angola S.A and Standard Chartered Bank (Sierra Leone] Limited (‘the Acquisitions’),” the bank stated.
Commenting on the completion milestone, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank Plc, and CEO of the Banking Group, Roosevelt Ogbonna, said, “We are pleased to have successfully concluded 2 important acquisitions in Angola and Sierra Leone, affording us synergies to strengthen the quality of our earnings from both countries by significantly growing our share of the Corporate and SME banking in the two markets.
“The combinations represent another significant step towards our broader vision of becoming the World’s Most Respected African Bank.”
The bank further hinted that its team is “working on the completion of transactions that would see Access Bank acquire Standard Chartered Bank’s subsidiaries in Cameroon, the Gambia and its Consumer, Private and Business Banking business in Tanzania. Access Holdings shall continue to make disclosures as and when required.”
