Brewers, NGX Lead Eleven Worst Performing Nigeria Stocks of 2023

The year 2023 will be remembered for an unprecedented stock rally as Nigeria stocks ranked as the best in the world even amid a red-hot inflation and currency devaluation that undermined some firms.

The NGXASI index has a year to date (YTD) of 45.06 percent and closed the year at +0.36 percent.

However some stocks missed out on the winning streak as they disappointedly underperformed, missing out on the mega rally.

Data gathered by MoneyCentral showed only eleven of the one hundred and fifty-five companies that are quoted on the stock exchange underperformed the broad index. And that represents 7.10 percent of the total index.

BUA Cement Plc has lost -0.77 percent so far this year; Champions Breweries Plc,-24.55 percent, Ellah Lakes Plc, -19.44 percent; Guinness Nigeria,-4.76 percent; Nigeria Breweries, -12.20 percent; NGX-Group Plc, –6.19 percent, Pharma Deko Plc, -12.86 percent; Royal Exchange Plc; -40.57 percent; Union Dicon, -9.50 percent; VFDGroup Plc, -17.15 percent, and VSPBONDETF, -10.81 percent.

Foreign exchange losses brought on by the devaluation of the currency tipped brewers into a loss after tax while rising inflation which stole workers’ wages and further impoverished consumer wallets, undermined demand for alcoholic drinks.

It was more cheers than gloom as 92.90 percent of stocks ended the year on a positive territory.

The best performing bellwether stocks were: Transnational Corporation of Nigeria or Transcorp with year to date of +666.37 percent; BUA Foods, +197.54 percent; Geregu Power, +167.79 percent; Nascon Allied, +384.23 percent; Dangote Sugar, +255.14 percent, and Seplat, +110.14 percent.

The big banks were the best performers among the largest listed firms as hey added impetus to the earnings of NGX30 index (the list of the most listed and capitalised firms. ‘

Zenith Bank has gained +61.04 percent; Guaranty Bank Holding Company orn GTCO +76.09; First Bank Holdings Plc, 116.06 percent; Access Bank, +172.35 percent, and United Bank for Africa or UBA, +237.50, making the lender the best performing bank stocks for 2023.

“This has undeniably been one of the most successful years for our market, driven by market-oriented reforms introduced by the new administration. As our clients and intermediaries, you have played an important role in the remarkable performance witnessed so far,” said Temi Popoola, Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Exchange Limited.

Based on its 2023 P/E ratio, the Nigerian equities market is currently trading at a discount (10.2x) compared to its historical 7-year average of 11.6x, according to data from Cordros Securities.

However, there could be a slowdown in corporate profit due to the continuous hiking of the interest rate by the central bank to tame rising inflation while banks will not enjoy foreign exchange gains that are expected to wane.

Get More of our proprietary news and analysis as MoneyCentral is now on WhatsApp Channels  Follow the MoneyCentral Nigeria channel on WhatsApp: Click here!