Dangote loses N100bn in five hours as equities dwindle

Nigeria and Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, lost more than N100 billion within the five-hour trading session at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday as the shares of his main business, Dangote Cement Plc, came under intense selloff.

Dangote Cement’s share price dropped by N6.97 to close at N167.02, representing a total loss of N118.77 billion. Dangote Cement, the most capitalised quoted company in Nigeria, has total issued shares of 17.04 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each.
Aliko Dangote’s Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) owns some 85 per cent majority equity stake in Dangote Cement.
The loss by Dangote Cement, the highest in terms of value, overshadowed large price gains across sectors. While there were 17 advancers to 16 decliners, the decline suffered by Dangote Cement left the overall market position with a net capital loss of N97 billion.Dangote Cement accounts for nearly one-third of total market capitalisation at the Exchange.
The All Share Index (ASI), the common value-based index that tracks prices at the Exchange, dropped by 1.07 per cent from 26,495.04 points to close at 26,212.09 points. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities also dropped from N9.116 trillion to close at N9.019 trillion.
With the third consecutive decline, the average year-to-date return at the stock market so far this year stood at -2.47 per cent.