- Overtakes Dangote Cement by N39bn gain
MTN Nigeria Plc yesterday returned as the biggest listed firm on the Nigerian Stock Exchange as sell-offs was witnessed in Dangote Cement Plc’s shares.
On Monday, August 19 , MTN Nigeria had gone ahead of Dangote Cement, becoming the most capitalised company on the NSE just three months after being listed, as its share price increased to N138.70 from N135 on Friday.
However, yesterday, Dangote Cement saw a 0.91 per cent increase in its share price from N164.50 on Monday to N166 on Tuesday, which pushed its market capitalisation to N2.83 trillion, to overtake the telecom firm, which closed at market capitalisation of N2.69 trillion.
At the end of trading yesterday, MTN Nigeria returned again to become the most capitalised stock with a gain of N39 billion after it gained N2.05 or 1.49 to close at N140.05 per share and N2.850 trillion in capitalization as against Dangote Cement which shed N2.00 or 1.20 per cent to close at N165 per share or N2.811 trillion in market capitalization.
In May, when MTN Nigeria listed on the NSE, the company’s market capitalisation was N1.3tn, leaving a N782bn margin between Dangote Cement.
The firm, which was the first telecommunication company to be listed on the NSE, became the second most capitalised company on the Exchange, until Monday when it overtook Dangote Cement.
MTN’s listing on the NSE was part of negotiations with Nigerian authorities to reduce a fine of N5.3tn by the Nigerian Communications Commission for misdeeds with sim card registrations.
It listed a total of 20.35 billion ordinary shares at a listing price of N90 per share.
