NSE MARKS DOWN ZENITH BANK FOR ,DIVIDEND, BONUS, ISSUE

By NBF NEWS

The management of the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Wednesday, marked the share price of Zenith Bank Plc down by N4.07, in lieu of the 75kobo per share dividend declared for the 2009 financial year and the bonus of one new share for every four shares already held by existing investors.

Consequently, the bank's share price closed at N14.48 and the drop in its price, coupled with that of some blue chips, resulted in a further drop in the indices of corporate performance on the NSE, at the close of business on Wednesday.

At the close of business, the performance of the equities sector dropped, as the All-share Index and market capitalisation dropped by 1.7 per cent.

According to the report of FSDH Securities Limited, the depreciation in indices was as a result of the major depreciation in the share price of Zenith Bank.

The ASI dropped by 1.7 per cent on Wednesday, to close at 27,254.61 points, indicating that the year-to-date increase in the ASI dropped to 30.86 per cent.

Also, the drop in the value of the market capitalisation on Wednesday, by 1.74 per cent, to close at N6.59tn ($44.45bn), compared to the depreciation of 1.26 per cent recorded on Tuesday, to close at N6.67tn ($44.98bn), was attributed to profit taking by some investors. The year-to-date gain by the market capitalisation also dropped, to 32.12 per cent.

According to the reports of Sterling Capital Markets Limited, volume was driven on Wednesday, by International Energy Insurance Plc, with 55.5million shares worth N41m, followed by Aso Savings and Loans Plc, which sold 48.97 shares valued at N31.6m.

Staco Insurance Plc and NEM Insurance Plc, were also active in volume terms, with 33.8million shares valued at N19.9m and 27.93million shares worth N20.88m in that order.