Stocks with a market capitalisation of over one trillion naira, known as SWOOTs, have gained about N463bn in one week on the back of the ongoing ‘Santa Claus’ rally on the Nigerian Exchange Limited.
These firms comprise, Airtel, Dangote Cement, MTN Nigeria, BUA Cement, BUA Foods, Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc and indigenous energy company, Seplat Plc.
The heavyweights had started the week with a market capitalisation worth N27.925tn. Their total market capitalisation stood at N28.388tn at the end of the week. As of August 2023, the total market capitalisation of these heavyweight companies was N25tn. Effectively, they were in control of more than half of the NGX’s total market capitalisation which stood at N40.506tn as of Friday.
In recent weeks, banking stocks, have flourished. When it comes to the SWOOTs in the banking index, Zenith Bank and GTCO, have seen investors injecting billions into these stocks. This trend has translated into high profitability, as both banks reported year-to-date returns of 57.92 per cent and 74.13 per cent, respectively.
Zenith Bank and GTCO gained N25.117bn and N4.414bn for their market capitalisation to close at N1.189tn and N1.178tn respectively ahead of Christmas.
A closer look revealed that the communications companies, Airtel Africa and MTN Nigeria had the highest gains of the SWOOTs as their stocks rose by about N329bn and N104bn respectively to close at N 7.093tn and N5.248tn during the week under review.
Other stocks in the high net worth category like BUA Cement, BUA Foods, Dangote Cement and Seplat closed flat, however, their year-to-date returns as of Friday stood at -0.77 per cent, 206 per cent, 22.61 per cent, and 110 per cent respectively.
Seplat’s entry to the N1tn market cap club was on the back of rallying oil prices that have bolstered investor sentiment.
Earlier this month, First Bank of Nigeria Holdings hit the N1tn mark driven by sustained interest in its stocks. Its market cap has, however, dropped below N1tn during subsequent trading sessions. Its year-to-date returns stood at an impressive 120.18 per cent as of Friday.
