since OKORO CHINEDU in Lagos, Nigeria
Nigerian Office
LAKES, (CAJ News) – The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NGX) outperformed other major exchanges on the continent in the year just ended.
It outperformed major rivals, in sub-Saharan Africa, namely South Africa’s Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE).
The Lagos-based exchange delivered a positive return of 20 percent in 2022, thanks to a stellar first half of 2022 and positive performance in the last two months of that year.
NGX performance in 2022 compares with declines of 0.9% and 11.9% for JSE and NSE, respectively.
Month-over-month (m/mbasis), the NGX also outperformed its peers on the mainland, delivering an am/m return of 7.5 percent in December 2022, compared with growth of 2.4 percent and the decrease of 2.4 percent. performance of the Nairobi and Johannesburg stock markets, respectively.
Performance was broadly positive for most sectors in the NGX.
The telecommunications, palm oil, and oil and gas sectors were the best performing industries.
FBN Quest noted that in terms of sector-specific drivers, a key factor behind the stellar performance of the telecom sector was foreign investor interest in Airtel Africa due to its dual-listing status.
“MTN Nigeria’s strong earnings results also helped,” the market watcher said.
Seplat Energy, the only upstream oil and gas company listed on NGX, benefited from a sharp increase in average oil prices as a result of the surge in crude prices that lasted for most of last year.
Going forward, FBN Quest anticipates a subdued NGX performance in the first quarter of 2023 as attention turns to the February general election.
“However, given our expectation of a recovery in the second half of 2023, we continue to anticipate that NGX will deliver double-digit returns in 2023,” the market watcher stated.
– CAJ News
