On the top 10 performing stocks last week were the shares of Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, P.Z Cusson Plc, Ikeja Hotels Plc, Okomu Oil Palm Co. Plc, Costain (West Africa) Plc, and Presco Plc.
Others were Chemical and Allied Products, CAP Plc, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, ETI Plc, NPF Microfinance Bank Plc and UACN Property Development Co. Plc.
Dangote Sugar led the advancers with 23.33 percent or N1.29 price appreciation, closing at N6.82 from
N5.53 it started the week at. DSR has commenced a Sugar Master Plan that will lead to production of 1.5 to 2 million metric tons of sugar per annum in the next five to 10 years in support of its quest to remain the leading sugar producing company ijn the country. In the light of this, the company has 200,000 hectares of land across Nigeria to meet the development plan.
The land, according to the company, would be used for the development of sugar cane plantations and construction of modern sugar processing factories. Latest financial highlights of the company for the half year to June, 2014 showed a declining fortune as its profit before tax for the period fell by 5.5 percent to N10.3 billion compared to N10.9 billion recorded in the corresponding period in 2013.
The revenue also fell by 9.8 per cent from the N55 billion recorded in 2013 fueled by a two-week plant upgrade which took place in May and gas supply disruptions for a couple of weeks in June. Low pour fuel oil (LPFO) provided an alternative energy source during that period. There was improvement in its operational efficiency as the cost of sale fell by 7.6 percent from N39.6 billion to N36.6 billion, while distribution expenses dipped by 55 percent from N6.57 billion to N2.925 billion. So far, the company has delivered 155.3 percent and 43 percent 52 week and year-to-date returns to investors respectively.
PZ Cusson garnered 18.56 percent or N4.64 price increase to close as the second most active stock within the week. It opened the market at N25.00 and closed at N29.64 per share. Several rating agencies had in the last month weighed in on the shares of parent body of PZ Cusson Nigeria to reaffirm their positive ratings on the shares. Five equities research analysts rated the stock with a hold rating, while two have assigned a buy rating to the company. For instance, PMorgan Chase & Co. reissued their neutral rating on shares of PZ Cussons plc.
Analysts at Canaccord Genuity reiterated a buy rating; Investec raised their price target on shares; Shore Capital reiterated a hold rating on shares, while analysts at Panmure Gordon reiterated a hold rating on the shares. However, PZ Cusson Nigeria released its half year financial statement last week, which was badly deteriorated in both revenue and profits due to currency moves in key markets, according to an article by Seeking Alpha. The company’s revenue for the period was down 2.5 percent to N31.66 billion from N32.46 billion in the same period in 2013, while the profit after tax decreased to N1.44 billion as against N2.32 billion in 2013, showing 37.9 percent decline. Analysts believe that the trends are unlikely to abate and could, indeed, intensify.
Ikeja Hotels Plc, which currently is mired in a Board room squabble, followed with 12.59 percent or N0.34 appreciation to close at N3.04 from N2.70 per share. The ownership tussle of one of Ikeja Hotels Plc subsidiaries, the Sheraton Lagos Hotel and Towers, deepened on January 7, as different members of the Ibru family moved to assert authority. Surprisingly though, the crises has not affected the shares seriously as indicated by the positive disposition towards the stocks last week.
It had however, experienced active sell-down to shed 34.84 percent between December 5th 2014 and January 26th following the problem. Analysts at proshare noted that sub-sector/peer analysis is a revelation that the stock has been the top performing stock in the last one year, which further suggests that the sentiments within the sub-sector remained positive towards it.
Okomu Oil advanced by 12.22 percent or N2.99 to close at N27.45 from N24.46 per share; Costain went up by 10.77 percent or N0.07 to close at N0.72 ftom N0.65; Presco followed with 10.23 percent or N3.03 increase to close at N32.66 from N29.63 per share; CAP added 7.64 percent or N2.75 to close at N38.75 from N36.00; ETI advanced by 7.51 percent or N1.13 to close at N16.18 from N15.05; NPF Microfinance Bank appreciated by 7.41 percent or N0.06 to close at N0.87 from N0.81, while UACN Property advanced by 6.16 percent or N0.53 to close at N9.13 from N8.60 per share.
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