By Chinwendu Obienyi
A total of 30.16 billion shares worth N357.48 billion were traded by tenstockbroking firms in Nigeria in the first quarter of 2021, according to data from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
The equities were traded by prominent brokerage firms with Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers Limited emerging as the most active by value of the transactions, while Cardinalstone Securities led the list of stockbroking firms by volume of shares.
According to the Broker Performance Report for Q1 2021 obtained from the NSE’s website, the league of ten biggest brokers on NSE contributed 52.63 percent to the total volume of shares transacted at the nation’s bourse in the quarter under review.
Stanbic IBTC Stockbroker retains its top position in this category, having traded in stocks worth N88.2 billion between January and March 2021, representing 12.99 per cent of total value of shares traded in the period under review. Cardinalstone Securities followed on the list with trading in stocks valued at N47.36 billion, and accounting for 6.97 per cent of the total value of shares traded in the first quarter of the year.
ABSA Securities Nigeria was next with its total trades valued at N41.53 billion in the period under review representing 6.12 per cent of the total value recorded in the stock exchange market while Rencap Securities also traded in stocks worth N35.81 billion, to stand fourth on the list as it accounted for 5.27 per cent of the recorded trades in monetary terms.
EFG Hermes traded a sum of N31.1 billion worth of stocks, which accounted for 4.58 per cent of the total value for the period. Others include; ESTC Securities (N26.4 billion), Meristem Stockbrokers (24.35 billion), FBN Quest Securities (N24.05 billion), Apel Asset Limited (20.56 billion), and Cordros Securities (18.11 billion).
On the other hand, Cardinalstone Securities Limited led the list of stockbroking firms in terms of volume of shares traded as it recorded trades in 5.13 billion units of shares, representing 8.15 per cent of the total volume traded in the bourse for the period.
Morgan Capital Securities followed, having traded in 4.05 billion shares, accounting for 6.43 per cent of the total volume of shares traded between January and March 2021. Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers traded in 3.79 billion units of shares in the first quarter of the year representing 6.03 per cent of the total recorded.
Meristem Stockbrokers Limited stands fourth on the list with trades in 3.56 billion units of shares between January and March 2021, accounting for 5.65 per cent of the total volume recorded while Atlass Portfolios Limited traded a total of 3.46 billion units of shares accounting for 5.5 per cent of the total volume recorded in the period under review.
Meanwhile, the NSE ended the first quarter of 2021 bearish as the All-Share Index dipped by 3.04 per cent from 40,270.42 points recorded as of December 31, 2020 to close at 39,045.13 points at the end of Q1 2021.
According to analysts, the bearish trend recorded in the stock market can be attributed to rising yields in government securities, profit-taking by investors, reallocation of investment portfolios, and the general downturn in the country’s economy.
According to the NBS, Nigeria’s inflation surged to a record high of 17.33 per cent, unemployment at 33.3 per cent, while food inflation (21.79 per cent) galloped to its highest in 15 years.
