According to recent local news reports, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (www.nigerianstockexchange.com) reports that a total volume of 93.3 billion shares valued at N797.6 billion (US$5.2 bn or 3.2% of gross domestic product) were traded in 2010, with volume down 9% and value up 16% compared to 2009 when 102.8 billion shares were traded, valued at N685.72 billion (2.9% of GDP). Compared to 2008, the 2009 figures represented a 46.8% in number of shares traded (volume) and 71.4% in value.
At a press conference on 19 January, interim administrator of the NSE, Emmanuel Ikazoboh, said average daily activity was down from 414.7 mn shares worth to 377.9 mn shares, with daily value up from N2.8 billion in 2009 to N3.2 billion in 2010. The turnover ratio dropped to 12.5% from 23.3% in 2009, partly because of a decline in share prices.
Equity trading was N797.5 bn or 99.99% of the turnover value. Only 13,000 units of State Government bonds were traded, valued at N14.14 mn. Trading in Industrial bonds and preference stocks was inactive compared to N412.8 million traded in 2009. Trading in Federal Government bonds on the NSE was also inactive in 2009 and 2010, compared to turnover of 13.8 billion units valued at N15.34 trillion in 137,080 deals on an Over-the-Counter (OTC) market for Federal Government bonds (2009 figures for the OTC were 17.1 billion units valued at N10.44 billion in 78,248 deals). In equities, the banking sector was most active and accounted for N432.1 bn of trading, followed by insurance with N15.1 bn.
The NSE received 366 complaints, up from 249 in 2009, and of these 291 were against dealing members’ firms, 66 against non-dealing members while 9 were against inactive operators. Only 135 complaints were resolved and 231 are still being investigated. A total of 74 dealing firms (up from 6 in 2009) were suspended for failing to submit audited accounts for 2008, 2009 and 2010.