The year 2020 has been a tough one for financial assets generally as the coronavirus induced lockdowns had let to economic carnage in many countries, however a few Nigerian stocks have outperformed the markets.
Equities are usually very correlated with the direction of the economy and once economic contraction or recession begins to happen, stocks usually sell off as profits are expected to also fall.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted that the Nigerian economy will contract by 3.4 percent this year.
Nigerian stocks have sold off with the all share index (ASI) down some 8 percent year to date.
However, some names have managed to outperform the broader market including the following:
Niemeth (a pharmaceutical firm), which is up 141.9 percent, the firm has soared as people buy up disinfectants and its other products to guard against the coronavirus.
Law Union & Rock Insurance is the second best performer with the stock up a whooping 108 percent year to date. The insurance firm is an acquisition target for Private Equity firm Verod.
New Gold is also on the list with the ETF which closely tracks Gold up 61 percent this year. Gold has benefitted from a flight to safety by investors amid economic uncertainty.