Bancorp Securities Limited, a leading investment research and consulting firm, has projected that trading in Nigeria’s bourse this week will sustain recent weeks’ positive sentiment ahead of the year-end earnings season.
The firm, in its ‘Weekly Stock Recommendations: Dec 19-Dec 23 2022’, hinged its forecast on the performance of the equities market over the past few weeks.
Noting that despite the National Bureau of Statistics’ (NBS’) November inflation report, which reflected that the nation’s inflation rose for the tenth consecutive month to 21.47% from 21.09%, the experts in the firm noted that the equities market sustained its positive stance for the fifth consecutive week as investors gained N236.6 billion.
Following the trading trend, the benchmark index closed northward by 0.89% w/w to 49,316.29 points while the market capitalisation appreciated to N26.86 trillion, thereby improving the YTD return by 15.45% from the 14.43% recorded in the preceding week.
The researchers attributed the upbeat market performance to price appreciation in some medium to large capitalized stocks such as LEARNAFRCA (+28%), CORNERST (+13%), PZ (+10%), ARDOVA (+10%) and ZENITHBANK (+9%)
Based on the indices, the analysts predicted: “We expect the current trend of positive sentiment to persist ahead of the year-end earnings season.”
Specifically, on the stocks they anticipated would give investors good yield the experts listed ZENITH, GTCO, WAPCO and MTNN as strong buy in terms of their potential return on investment.
On ZENITH, the experts predicted: “The Group is poised to sustain the strong performance trajectory while adapting to changes in the regulatory environment and focusing on creative initiatives to mitigate inflationary trends, foreign exchange pressures and the growing competitive environment.”
Similarly, the analysts hinged their recommendations on MTNN as a strong buy because they “expect an increased market share driven to continue to be sustained by data demand, payment service banking, and the development of 5G broadband.”
