Dangote Cement Plc and four other companies accounted for about 69.59 per cent of the market capitalisation of equities on the Nigerian Exchange Limited as of the end of April.
The other companies are MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, Airtel Africa Plc, BUA Cement Plc and Nestle Nigeria Plc.
An analysis of data obtained from the NGX showed that the five biggest listed companies boosted their combined market capitalisation by N520bn in April to N14.51tn.
The market capitalisation of all the 162 companies listed on the NGX stood at N20.85tn as of April 30, compared to N20.43tn at the end of March.
Dangote Cement, the country’s biggest listed company, saw its market cap grow to N3.69tn at the end of last month from N3.66tn in March.
MTN Nigeria boosted its market value to N3.56tn from N3.26tn while that of Airtel Africa remained unchanged at N3.49tn.
BUA Cement’s market cap rose to N2.64tn in April from N2.49tn in March while Nestle Nigeria grew its market value to N1.13tn from N1.09tn.
PwC Nigeria, in a recent report, noted that as part of initiatives aimed at attracting fast-growth companies and startups to the capital market, the NGX launched the Growth Board last year.
It said, “The Growth Board aims to address the shortcomings of the Alternative Securities Market by offering more flexible listing options, relaxed eligibility requirement, and less regulatory burden in terms of post-listing obligations.
“For instance, companies with a market capitalisation of as low as N50m with a minimum of 25 shareholders could be eligible to list its shares on the Growth Board.”
The exchange also released a draft regulatory framework last year for the listing of special purpose acquisition companies in Nigeria.
Reacting to Tuesday’s decision of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria, analysts at Cordros Capital Limited, said, “We expect a neutral reaction from equity investors, given that a hold decision is likely to be interpreted as ‘business as usual.
“Accordingly, we think the market will continue to exhibit a choppy theme as investors keep their gaze on yield movements in the FI market. We expect that income investors will continue to cherry-pick dividend-paying stocks.
The analysts, however, said risk-averse investors would likely stay on the sidelines until positive triggers propel market performance.
