By Chinwendu Obienyi
Strong interest in shares of Champion Breweries rose significantly at the mid-week trading session on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
The medium capitalised stock closed the session at 9.80 per cent yesterday, hitting its 52-week high on reports suggesting that Heineken B.V, the majority core investor in Nigerian Breweries Plc and Champion Breweries Plc, might soon launch a full takeover bid for the minority shares in Champion Breweries.
Recent data and regulatory filings retrieved from the Nigerian Stock market revealed Heineken, through its wholly-owned Nigerian subsidiary, Raysun Nigeria Limited, acquired N4.95 billion shares from investors to increase its shareholding in the Akwa Ibom State-based Champion Breweries.
Meanwhile, the Lagos based stock exchange sustained its bullish run as the All Share Index (ASI) increased by 0.11 per cent to close at 40,341.05 points as a result of gains in Flour mill, Mobil and Wapco.
In the same vein, market capitalisation rose by N24 billion to close at N21.093 trillion while year-to-date (ytd) return stood at 0.2 per cent. However, activity level retreated as the volume and value of stocks traded declined by 59.9 and 12.6 per cent respectively to 468.14 million units and N6.96 billion, which changed hands in 5,697 deals.
At the close of trading yesterday, 32 stocks appreciated in value while 16 stocks depreciated. Academy topped the gainers’ chart with 10 per cent to close at 0.33 kobo per share, Sovereign Insurance followed with 10 per cent to close at 0.22 kobo, Veritas Kapital increased by 10 per cent to close at 0.22, BOC Gas gained 9.92 per cent to close at N12.52 while Champion Breweries garnered 9.80 per cent to close at N1.12.
On the other hand, Chellaram led the laggards with 9.96 per cent to close at N2.26 per share. Livestock feeds was next with 9.74 per cent to close at N1.76, Chip Plc dropped 8.82 per cent to close at 0.31 kobo, FTN Cocoa fell by 5.88 per cent to close at 0.64 kobo while Cutix lost 5 per cent to close at N2.09.