NSE ASI Rises by 1.17% as Tier 1 Banks Reward their Shareholders

In line with our expectation, Tier 1 banks, such as ZENITH BANK, GTBank, UBA and ACCESS were the toast of investors as the companies declared interim dividend amid Positive H1 2020 audited financial results.

The positive development in this sub-sector rubbed off on other sub-sectors, lifting the All Share Index (ASI) further by 1.17% week on week to close at 25,605.64 points.

Similarly, the NSE Banking, NSE Insurance, NSE Consumer Goods, NSE Oil/Gas and NSE Industrial indices rose by 2.76%, 1.96%, 1.49%, 3.65 and 0.44% to close at 302.09 points, 135.00 points, 433.37 points, 194.20 points and 1,124.23 points respectively.

On the sidelines of trading activities, Zenith Bank Plc released its H1 2020 financial results, recording 8.58% y-o-y rise in gross income and profit after tax of N103.83 billion from profit after tax of N88.88 billion amid improved income lines and reduced tax liability. Meanwhile, market activity was upbeat as total deals and Naira votes rose by 7.68%, 17.35% and 37.84% to 17,902 deals, 1.29 billion shares and N10.15 billion respectively.

In the new week, we expect the domestic equities market to remain upbeat as investors further position in Tier 1 banks in order to qualify for the interim dividend. However, we expect our clients to trade cautiously as prices may retract after qualification dates.