The OTC market grew in size and structure in the first quarter of 2016. At the end of the quarter, NASD had admitted 26 securities to trade as against 24 securities in the previous quarter with the introduction of two more companies (Fan Milk Plc and Vital Product Plc).
The market capitalisation of admitted securities on NASD OTC Market at the end of Q1 stood at ₦389.85billion. This was represented by 107.45 billion shares in issue out of which only 16.33 billion shares had been dematerialised (15.20%).
The market also witnessed a positive improvement in the number of deals, volume and value of transactions relative to Q1 in 2015 even though the Securities and Exchange Commission [“SEC”] rule on unlisted securities had not been passed.
A total of 144.36 million shares worth ₦1.01 billion traded in 675 deals occurred in Q1 2016 as compared to 128.12 million shares worth ₦655.33 million traded in 151 deals were traded in the 1st quarter of 2015.
“The number of deals, volume and value traded increased by 347%, 13% and 52% respectively. We however anticipated a significant market growth in Q1 2016 but we can attribute the current figures to low consumer and government spending as well as low investor confidence on the market. We anticipate deeper investor and operator participation by the end of the 2nd quarter as trading companies have started rolling out financial reports which may influence participation from all sides positively”.
The market also experienced growth in the number of authorised Traders as five (5) new Authorised Traders were inducted during the quarter bringing the total number of Authorised Traders registered by their sponsoring firms to 193.
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