First HoldCo Plc plunged by another 10% on Thursday to N125.55 as investors traded 343.80 million shares worth N34.78 billion amid sustained selling pressure.
The decline represents a second consecutive session that First HoldCo shares fell by 10% following market reaction to the financial group’s nine-month financial statements released last week.
On Wednesday, Naijaonpoint reported that First HoldCo plunged 10% from N155 to N139.50 as investors continued to digest the nine-month results.
The stock declined by another N13.95 on Thursday from N139.50 to N125.55, bringing its cumulative decline over the two trading sessions to 19%.
Trading activity also surged significantly on Thursday with 343.80 million First HoldCo shares changing hands for N34.78 billion.
The stock accounted for approximately 52.5% of the 654.28 million shares traded across the equities market and about 60.6% of the total N57.36 billion transaction value recorded during the session.
The latest selloff follows increased investor activity in First HoldCo shares since the release of the group’s nine-month financial results.
On October 26, investors traded 14.37 million First HoldCo shares worth N2.10 billion after the results showed that profit after tax increased 65.1% to N744.45 billion.
Profit before tax rose 60.8% to N911.24 billion, while total assets increased to N32.20 trillion and customer deposits climbed to N22.91 trillion.
However, the results also showed that net interest income declined 16% to N1.26 trillion, while the group recorded N228.81 billion in other comprehensive losses.
Consequently, total comprehensive income stood at N515.64 billion for the nine-month period.
Despite the sustained selloff in First HoldCo shares, the broader Nigerian equities market closed higher on Thursday.
The NGX All-Share Index gained 0.47% from 252,882.78 points to 254,083.02 points, while equities market capitalisation increased from N164.194 trillion to N164.974 trillion.
Overall, investors traded 654.28 million shares valued at N57.36 billion across 35,821 deals.
First HoldCo dominated the session with its N34.78 billion turnover accounting for more than six out of every N10 traded on the equities market on Thursday.