Airtel Africa: Investors Sell Shares in Nigeria to Invest in London
An indication emerged that Airtel Africa Plc.’s’ investors are selling their shares as they spotted an opportunity to earn from stable currency assets on London Stock Exchange where the telecom company’s stock is also listed.
Airtel Africa has 3.758 billion outstanding shares on the Nigerian bourse, priced at N1,312.20 kobo, according to Broadstreet data.
According to Muktar Mohammed, a financial analyst who spoke with Arise TV, the selling rallies that hit the stock market last week were driven by investors’ decision to reduce Airtel’s Shareholdings in the local bourse.
In the first three trading sessions, the top market movers in the Nigerian bourse lost 10% per day as value hunters spotted buying interest in the London Stock market, Mohammed told Arise TV.
A large number of analysts still hold the view that the Nigerian Exchange is not rewarding best earnings performers but Airtel Africa’s share had popped up significantly after its share buyback. READ:Stock Market Returns Positive as Airtel Seeks to Buy Back Shares
On a successful share buyback programme completed to ease out Nigeria’s minority interest investors, Airtel Africa outpaced Dangote Cement as the most valuable brand in the Lagos bourse.
However, the Nigerian Exchange saw massive selloffs in the telecom company’s shares as equities investors perceived there are gaps between their returns on portfolios holding in the Nigerian market compared with London Stock Exchange.
The exchange rate in Nigeria has weakened, thus widening the real return on naira assets while the headline inflation rate continues to gallop. Year-to-date market return plunged below 4% after stock market bear riots last week.
As of Monday’s close, Airtel Africa shares went down N1312, having peaked at N2000 in the local bourse in 2022.
# Airtel Africa: Investors Sell Shares in Nigeria to Invest in London#
