Nigerian shares fell 0.12 percent as investors took profits in newly admitted BUA Foods, which had gained more than 59 percent as of late last week, when earnings began to level off.
Transcorp and NGX Group also reported major declines on a day when trading volume plummeted as much as 47 percent.
Before an analyst call due Tuesday, BUA food issued its earnings report for the nine months to September, showing an after-tax profit of N16.6 billion. That translates to a price-earnings ratio of 67.2 at the close of trading on Monday, meaning the stock is significantly overvalued and trading well above its true value.
Negative market breadth was reported as there were 22 laggards against 16 winners at the end of the trade.
“We expect the market to maintain its bullish momentum as investors continue to position themselves ahead of dividend season amid profit-taking activity from high-yielding stocks,” analysts at the brokerage firm and investment bank said. United Capital in its forecast note for this week. seen by PREMIUM TIMES.
The all-stock index moderated by 55.01 points, closing at 44,399.66, while the market capitalization closed lower at 23.9 trillion naira.
So far this year, the index is down 3.94 percent.
TOP FIVE WINNERS
Insiders led the gainers, appreciating 10 percent to close at N0.44. Sunu Assurance rose 9.68 percent to N0.34.
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Eterna moved up to N6, scoring 6.95 percent in the process. Wapic added 6.25 percent to end the trade at N0.51. Consolidated Hallmark rounded out the top 5, rising 4.48 percent to N0.70.
TOP FIVE LOSERS
Veritas Kapital led the losers, falling 8.70 percent to close at N0.21. Mutual Benefits lost 7.41 percent to close at N0.25. Cornerstone fell to N0.51, shedding 7.27 percent.
BUA Foods slumped to N61.80, posting a 6.36 percent depreciation. Courtville closed at N0.35, down 5.41 percent.
THE FIVE MAIN OPERATIONS
A total of 214.3 million shares estimated at N2.7 billion were in 4,410 deals.
Transcorp was the most active stock, with 39.3 million units worth N43 billion traded in 248 deals. FBN Holdings shares of 25.5 million units at a price of N306 million were exchanged in 149 transactions.
GTCO had 24.8 million shares valued at N625.1 million traded in 558 deals. Zenith Bank traded 20.9 million shares estimated at N534 million in 347 transactions. Fidelity traded 10.4 million shares valued at N27.2 million in 98 trades.