SMEs capitalisation on NSE hits ₦11.46bn in 3-months

by NEWS AGENCIES
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The market capitalisation for the Small and Medium Enterprises quoted on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange stood at ₦11.464bn ($37.4m) as of the first quarter of 2017, findings by our correspondent have shown.

The SMEs are classified under the Alternative Securities Market segment of the bourse, which is the Exchange’s specialised board for emerging businesses – small and mid-sized companies with high growth potential.

The ASeM gives such companies the opportunity to raise long-term capital from the capital market at relatively low cost, allowing them to grow and institutionalise.

Only 10 securities are said to be listed on the platform as of the end of 2017 Q1.

There is, therefore, no limit to the amount of capital a company listed on ASeM can raise as long as the company meets regulatory requirements including those of the Corporate Affairs Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Companies that list on the ASeM are supported by three main pillars – their designated advisers, their growth ambassadors and the NSE’s institutional services.

Meanwhile, the listed bonds of the Federal Government on the NSE as of March 31 this year was ₦6.82tn. This figure was generated from a total of 20 listings on the bourse.

Following a series of monetary policy actions to boost liquidity and rate convergence in the foreign exchange market, the NSE marked a positive market performance in Q1 2017 and saw monthly turnover reach a two-year high of ₦142.56bn ($465.34m) in March 2017.

In Q1 2017, the average daily value traded across all products on the NSE increased by 47.58 per cent to ₦3.56bn ($11.61m), from ₦2.41bn ($12.16m) in the previous year.

However, the average daily volume traded declined by 45.18 per cent to 308.94 million units from 563.53 million units in Q1 2016, indicating higher value/lower volume trades in Q1 2017 compared to the previous year.

At the end of the quarter, the average price earnings (PE) ratio of the Exchange’s listed equities stood at 18.83 compared to 13.98 in the previous year.

The equity turnover velocity also increased by 3.45 percentage points to 10.28 per cent, from 6.83 per cent in Q1 2016.