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Not quite as expensive as Five Golden Rings, Three French Hens or Nine Ladies Dancing, but buying these 12 stocks should be a perfect Christmas gift for you or a loved one.
As 2022 blessedly clangs to a close, it’s imperative for investors to know where to put their money next year, and MoneyCentral is revealing our top stock picks for 2023.
This year has left an indelible mark in the mind of people and policy makers across the globe as Central Banks battle elevated inflation an the fallout from the Russia Ukraine war that has affected everything from food to energy.
While the Nigerian economy has expanded on average about 3% so far this year, Nigerian stocks have surged by 16.36%.
The increase in short-term interest rates offered on government treasury bills is however pushing traders toward bonds/fixed income; a scenario analysts call “rotation.”
A rotation is a situation where money leaves stocks and flows into bonds or vice versa, usually triggered by monetary policies.
Zenith Bank Plc
Consistent growth in earnings and an uptick in electronic banking amid a punitive regulatory environment catapulted Zenith Bank to become Nigeria’s largest bank by profit.
The stock is down -2.39% year to date and trades at a price to earnings multiple of 2.99 times earnings, making its shares very attractive.
Zenith Bank the largest Nigerian bank by market capitalisation, has a dividend yield that stood at 12.36 percent, which means investors and shareholders will receive higher returns for taking the risk of investing in the firm.
MTN Nigeria
Ten shares of MTN Nigeria (MTNN), is worth about N2,140 today as MTNN trades at around N214 per share.
MTN Nigeria is an extremely unique company, with little or no firm quite like it in Nigeria. It is a technology, payments, Telco, and financial services firm all wrapped in one company and has been operating in the country for close to 20 years.
MTNN recently launched its Ambition 2025 strategy aimed at driving growth across key business segments including data services, fintech and digital services.
To this end the company has focused on enhancing its network capacity to grow data traffic via expanding 4G network coverage across Nigeria.
BUA Cement
BUA Cement Plc, is the second-largest cement producer in Africa’s largest economy that is aggressively expanding operations across the country, and has seen net income surge since its listing on the back of volume expansion.
The company has been consistently growing earnings since it went public a few years ago and shareholders have been getting steady dividends, which makes the stock an allure of investors who crave for rich stocks to add to their portfolios.
BUA Cement Plc, paid out dividends of N88.047billion for its financial year ended December 31, 2021.
BUA Cement has a market capitalisation of N3.31 trillion and traded at N97.75 per share on Friday.
Julius Berger
Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, is a company that is re-inventing itself and preparing to tap into new growth opportunities right as we speak.
Despite consistently being named as the best engineering firm in the country, the construction giant is not resting on its oars as it continues to invest in innovation and new products.
Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, the largest engineering construction company in the country is looking to invest beyond Nigeria as it seeks to maximise growth opportunities.
Matters relating to business opportunities in countries beyond Nigeria, were discussed at a meeting of the Company’s Board of Directors held this month.
The firm has in recent times sought to diversify its earnings away from the highly cyclical construction sector.
In September 2022, it officially launched its new cashew processing plant its first Agro-processing activity, which formed the cornerstone of Julius Berger’s diversification activities, and in particular in the Agro-sector.
Julius Berger closed trading at N23.30 per share on Friday for a market capitalisation of N37.28 billion.
United Bank for Africa (UBA)
United Bank for Africa (UBA), is a top pick for MoneyCentral as its growth accelerates on excellent execution.
Known as Africa’s Global Bank, UBA Plc, announced remarkable performance in its unaudited financial results for the third quarter (Q3) ended September 30, 2022, recording impressive growth across all its major indices, replicating the commendable performance it achieved in the first two quarters of the current fiscal year.
Specifically, the bank’s Gross Earnings rose to N608 billion, up from N493 billion recorded in September 2021, while Operating income also grew by 27.3% to close at N414.1 billion as at September 2022, up from N334.8 billion achieved a year earlier.
UBA also comes in third at N7.81 trillion on the MoneyCentral list of Top 10 Nigerian banks by customer deposits based on the third quarter, 2022 results, showing its ability to grab market share while maintaining excellent customer service.
UBA closed trading on Friday at N7.50 per share for a market capitalisation of N256.5 billion. The stock is still quite cheap for investors at a price to earnings (P/E) ratio of 2.02.
Conclusions
Guinness Nigeria, Seplat, Dangote Cement, Access Holdings, Okomu Oil, TotalEnergies and Nestle Nigeria are also among our top stock picks for next year as investors have confidence in their growth potentials given management and boards of directors strategic plans.
Potential investors should contact quality stockbrokers such as Meristem Securities, Afrinvest or Vetiva Capital, among others to start investing today.