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By Omoh Gabriel, Business Editor
Monday, October 25, 2004
LAGOS—ACCESS Bank shares have been rated the most profitable, most active and high yielding stock in the Nigeria Capital Market. According to a study released, weekend, by First Security Discount House (FSDH) and Counter Trust Security Limited, Access Bank topped the list of 23 bank stocks in the secondary market of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The report said between December 31, 2003 and September 30, 2004, Access Bank’s return on investment was 55.33 per cent and it ranked as the most traded stock with a total volume of 598,171,208 shares traded on the floor of the NSE. The bank, the report said, had a 14 per cent movement in price which stood at N3 on December 31, 2003 and rose to N3.42 in September 2004 and that the bank paid a cash dividend of N0.10 and a bonus of one share for every three shares held.
The bank share performance was followed closely by that of GTB with a price of N10.99 during the period and closed at N11.94. GTB, the report said, paid a dividend of N0.45 and bonus of one for three. GTB during the period had 8.64 percentage change in price with a return on investment of 48.95 per cent lower than that of Access Bank. GTB volume of shares traded during the period was 445,803,391. again lower than that of Access Bank.
The third in the study list is Union Bank Plc which share price closed the year 2003 at N25.01 and declined to N24.70 by September 30, 2004. The bank gave a cash dividend of N1.40 during the period and also gave a bonus share of one for three. Union Bank, the report said, had a return on investment of 37 per cent but had a total of 673,087,259 volume of shares changed hands at the stock exchange during the period.
First Bank on the other hand had a return on investment of 33.47 per cent. Gulf Bank was next with a return on investment of 33 per cent during the period. Trade Bank and Intercontinental Bank, according to the study, had a return on investment of 29.81 per cent and 29.41 respectively. While Trade Bank did not give dividend or bonus share during the period, Intercontinental Bank paid a dividend of N0.40 during the period under review but did not give any bonus issue. The bank’s shares were considerably stable in the secondary market in the last two years. Investors are quite at home with the viability of the shares as they are highly tradeable.
A closer look at shares in the market showed that Access Bank’s shares have been yielding investors good return on investment. A market analysis of some selected shares in the market had earlier shown that the P/E ratio of Access Bank is as high as 17.56, almost the highest in the industry. From the above market studies, those who invested in the bank in the past have in a short time recorded high yield and return on their investment. The market price of the bank shares has been above its par value resulting in capital gains.
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