FirstHoldco Momentum Eases, Investors Assessing Earnings Quality
FirstHoldco Plc slipped in the stock market due to moderate profit-taking, as investors begin to look more closely at the financial services company’s earnings quality.
Investors and other market observers have moved past earnings size and are now looking deeper into the group’s earnings quality, attributing the significant year-on-year growth to a low base-year record.
Its share price receded softly to N105 in the Nigerian Exchange after it touched an intraday high of N110 – the highest the Holdco has ever reached in the local bourse.
Some stockbrokers said the significant re-rating cooled on earnings digestion by those seeking to understand the 82% profitability surge in the first half of the year.
Trading data from the Nigerian Exchange showed that First Holdco closed lower at N105 on Tuesday as 65.680 million shares valued at N6.949 billion exchanged hands in the stock market.
Market analysts said that at the current market price, First Holdco is trading ahead of earnings.
How investors perceive the Holdco’s profitability performance – driven more by non-core banking operations- would determine its pricing going forward, when sentiment relaxes.
First HoldCo Delivers Blockbuster Performance in H1, Profit Soars 82%

