BEVERLY HILLS, January 19, (THEWILL) – The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) said it compensated no fewer than 49 investors who suffered pecuniary losses in 2020 with the sum of N17.02 million.
It also added that it facilitated restitution and recoveries of shares worth N305.11 million for investors during the same period.
The beneficiaries of the compensation and recovery measures include those who suffered losses to dealing members of the firms during their transactions in the nation’s bourse.
These disclosures were made Tuesday by the Chief Executive Officer, NSE, Mr Oscar Onyema, during his presentation at the ‘2020 Market Recap and 2021 Outlook’ hosted virtually by the NSE.
He said the measures represented the NSE’s resolve to ensure market transparency and elicit public confidence in the Nigerian capital market.
Onyema stated that 2020 was a historic year for global capital markets which witnessed sharp swings and steep losses amid rising uncertainty.
He however noted that developments in the global economy created opportunities that propelled the NSE to greater heights in 2020.
“For The Exchange, renewed investor optimism coupled with improved economic conditions and low fixed income yields propelled a year-end bull run.
“Of 93 global equity indices tracked by Bloomberg, the NSE All-Share Index (ASI) emerged as the best-performing index in the world, surpassing the S&P 500 (+16.26%), Dow Jones Industrial Index (+7.25%), and other global and African market indexes, to post a one-year return of +50.03%.
“At the close of the year, the NSE’s equity market capitalization was up by 62.42%, from N12.97 trillion in 2019 to N21.06 trillion in 2020 while market turnover saw an uptick of 7.25%, from N0.96Tn in 2019 to N1.03Tn in 2020,” Onyema said.
He listed some of the ground-breaking achievements for 2020 to include the historic listing of Interswitch’s N23 billion 15.00% Fixed Rate Series 1 bond.
The other is the premier bond listing which he said illustrates the potential of The Exchange to support FinTechs and growth companies across various economic sectors.
The listing of Dangote Cement’s N100 billion 12.50% Series 1 bond under its N300 billion bond programme which became the largest corporate bond issuance in Nigeria’s fixed income market was also included in the list of outstanding achievements of the NSE.
The Primero Plc’s first bond on the NSE – the Primero BRT Securitization SPV Plc bond valued at N16.5 billion, also featured among the NSE’s ground-breaking records in 2020.
Onyema’s presentation also revealed that The NSE Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) market experienced its best year in 2020.
He said, “Market capitalization increased by 272.30% from N6.58 billion recorded in 2019 to N24.51 billion in 2020 while trade volumes increased by 218.23% from 4.15 million units in 2019 to 13.20 million units in 2020, and turnover skyrocketed by 51,830.59%.”
Commenting on the progress of the demutualisation exercise, Onyema said the NSE is currently awaiting approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to conclude the process.
He noted that the demutualization exercise would enable the NSE to deliver cutting-edge products and services to deliver value to the stakeholders.
“As we transition to a demutualised exchange group, we believe that the appointments recently announced for the Group will support the NSE’s vision to be Africa’s preferred Exchange hub.
“We look forward to consolidating on the benefits of demutualisation in the coming year.
“We intend to aggressively pursue cutting-edge products and services, access new markets and deliver value to our valued stakeholders.”
He said the new entity would be listed by introduction to afford Nigerians the opportunity of being part owners.
Mr Onyema explained that the NSE intended to use market norms and legal means to make the shares available to investors when listed.
He disclosed that the federal government accounted for about 92 per cent of total bond issuances on the NSE in a bid to finance fiscal and infrastructure deficits.
According to him, the government raised N2.36 trillion from the fixed income segment of the NSE in 2020, the largest by any entity.
He said corporate organisations also leveraged the low yield environment to fund their expansion programmes and to pursue debt refinancing, raising a total of N192 billion.
He noted that capital raising activities in the fixed income market increased significantly in 2020.
According to him, NSE’s bond market capitalisation rose by 35.52 per cent to N17.5 trillion from N12.92 trillion in 2019.
Sam Diala is a Bloomberg Certified Financial Journalist with over a decade of experience in reporting Business and Economy. He is Business Editor at THEWILL Newspaper, and believes that work, not wishes, creates wealth.
