Airtel Africa has lost 10% of its market value on Wednesday as investors unpacked the telecom giant’s shares, according to trading data at the Nigerian Exchange Market.
Traded at N1,331.10 kobo, the rate at which the stock fell was the maximum allowable by the Nigerian Exchange.
Singularly, negative price movement on Airtel Africa Plc shares alone pull-down the local bourse from rebounds as market capitalisation dipped ₦579.6 billion to ₦28.9 trillion.
Today, the telecom giant lost N555.83 billion to investors’ decision to exit positions by unpacking loads of Airtel Africa shares.
Based on its historical trading records, there is a possibility the company’s share price will track lower further before it rebounds. At the end of the trading session in the stock market, Airtel Africa was valued at N5 trillion.
This company’s valuation had inched near N7 trillion during its boom period in 2022 just after when the company bought out Nigeria’s minority shareholders. Some analysts said the move stem its share price volatility.
Management said the decision was anchored on its strategic efforts to deliver value to shareholders after the previous downturn in its stock market performance. Despite its similar operational conditions and fundamentals, Airtel Africa was way valued above MTN Nigeria.
In terms of earnings, MTN Nigeria has proven to be the captain in the telecom sector with successive records on profitability and stock market performance. A slew of equities analysts estimated that Airtel Africa may actually be overvalued.
With 3.754 billion outstanding shares, Airtel Africa still ranks higher in the market movers’ category on the Nigerian Exchange. The company ranked first, followed by MTN Nigeria with N4.885 trillion in valuation.
Dangote Cement Plc ranked third with N4.59 trillion valuation, followed by BUA Cement at N3.314 trillion and BUA Foods was valued at N1.836 trillion.
