Airtel, MTN Nigeria top list of most valuable companies in Nigeria

Nigerian telco giants, Airtel Africa and MTN Nigeria, led the list of most valuable quoted companies in Nigeria in the first quarter of 2023, with market capitalizations of N5.56 trillion and N4.89 trillion, respectively.

The two quoted telecommunication companies in the Nigerian equities market remain the most capitalized companies in the country, jointly accounting for 35.4 per cent of the total market.

MTN Nigeria overtook Dangote Cement as the second most capitalized company in the Nigerian equities market in the first quarter of 2023.

MTN Nigeria, which was valued at N4.38 trillion as of the end of 2022, recorded a growth of 11.6 per cent to stand at N4.89 trillion by the end of March 2023, surpassing the 3.4 per cent growth recorded in the share value of Dangote

The list, according to data tracked from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), also included cement-producing giants, Dangote and BUA Cement, as well as Consumer goods producers, BUA Foods and Nestle Nigeria.

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Zenith Bank, Geregu Power, Guaranty Trust Holdings, and Seplat Petroleum rounded up the list of the top ten most valuable companies in the country, valued at N24.09 trillion as of 31st March 2023, accounting for about 82 per cent of the total market value.

The Nigerian stock market All-Share Index had opened the year at 51,251.06 basis points and closed the review quarter at 54,232.34 points.

In the same vein, the market capitalization gained N1.63 trillion between January and March 2023 to close the quarter at N29.54 trillion.

The market had enjoyed a strong positive start to the year, registering an 8.9 per cent year-to-date gain as of the 9th of March 2023, before it began to decline, reaching 5.82 per cent by the end of the quarter.

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The hike in interest rates announced by the CBN against the backdrop of the fall encouraged investors to allocate their capital to alternative high-yielding fixed-income instruments.

The impressive growth in the valuation of the telcos is not far-fetched, considering the increased usage of internet services across the world and in Nigeria after the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

In terms of absolute value, BUA Foods gained N666 billion to stand at N1.84 trillion, followed by MTN Nigeria, with an increase of N508.8 billion to stand at N4.88 trillion, while Dangote Cement’s market value grew by N153.4 billion to stand at N4.6 trillion.