Unilever Nigeria fell short of investors patronage for the week ended October 24, 2014, after shedding N12.76 per cent from its share price to lead other share price decliners.
According to the weekly report of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) released at the weekend, the share price of the company shed N5.85, which represents 12.76 per cent from the N45.85 opening price to close at N40.
Again, data gathered from the daily official list of the Nigerian bourse showed that the current share price of the personal and household products manufacturer at N40 is the lowest traded price year to date (within 52 weeks streak).
Also, the data gathered from the same source indicated that Unilever’s highest traded price year to date stood at N62, which showed that the current share price at N40 is N22 or 35.48 per cent away from the highest traded price within the year.
Commenting on the share price decline, a senior stockbroker with APT Securities, Tony Mordi, said: “The price movements in Unilever is purely speculative, which is normal relative to its fundamentals.”
More so, the report indicated that the company’s Price to Earnings (P.E) ratio, which refers to a valuation ratio of a company’s current share price compared to its per-share earnings, is N29.19, which is quite impressive compared to its peers in the industry.
Furthermore, Unilever’s Earnings Per Share (EPS), the portion of a company’s profit allocated to each outstanding share of common stock and also an indicator of a company’s profitability, closed at N1.37; quite moderate compared to the peers in the industry.
Key extracts of the second quarter (Q2) result of the company indicated that the company recorded a decline in profitability as the company’s profit before tax and profit after tax declined 49 per cent year on year (y/y) to N988 million and 52 per cent y/y to N713 million respectively.
Source : Tribune