On the top 10 performing stocks last week were shares of Oasis Insurance Plc, Prestige Assurance Plc, NPF Micro-finance Bank Plc, Conoil Plc, Skye bank plc and Fidson Healthcare Plc.

The rest were 7-Up Bottling Company plc, Academy Press Plc, Ikeja Hotel Plc and Union Bank of Nigeria Plc.

Oasis Insurance Pc led the pack with 16.00 percent or N0.08 price appreciation to close at N0.58 from N0.50 it started the week at. Last month, FBN Life acquired 71.2 percent equity stake in the company through acquisition of 4.63 billion ordinary shares of 50kobo each. The acquisition, according to the company, was effected through the execution of a share sale and purchase agreement with the majority shareholders of Oasis.

The business combination is believed to have the potential of to enhancing efficiency and profitability of both firms. Nine months financial statement of the company for the period ended 30th September, 2013, showed 18.5 percent decline in gross premium to N1.153 billion from N1.414 billion; net premium earned fell by 17.4 percent to N889.56 million from the previous N1.040 billion in 2012, while the underwriting profit for the period declined by 31.1 percent from N644.139 million to N443.699 million.

However, profit after tax soared by huge 131.6 percent to N100.706 million from N43.477 million. The stock initially rose by 30 percent to 65 kobo from following the announcement on the first week before sliding to the present market price. Oasis is licensed to carry on non-life insurance business in Nigeria, spanning fire, general accident, motor, marine, aviation, oil & gas, bond and engineering all- risk policies.

Prestige Assurance followed with 7.14 percent or N0.04 price increase to close at N0.58 from N0.54 per share. It is one of the 39 underwriters to have migrated to international financial reporting standard, according to information from the national Insurance commission, NAICOM. Prestige, according to the chairman, Dr. C.S. Sankey, strengthened capacity in some key areas of its business, particularly risk management and oil and gas.

Despite the huge claim incurred in 2013 following the Dana Air crash incident, the company’s profit before tax increased to N870 million in the 2012 financial period from N157 million in 2011. Also, the profit after tax increased by 811 percent from loss position of N34.7 million in 2011 to N603 million in 2012. It has continued the winning streak into the current financial period as could be seen in the nine months results for September, 2013, where it recorded profit after tax of N344.785 million as against N308.682 million recorded in the corresponding period of 2012, a 12 percent increase.

NPF Micro-finance Bank placed third with 6.85 percent or N0.05 price appreciation from N0.73 to N0.78. Of the two micro-finance institutions listed on the NSE, NPF MfB is the least priced with Fortis MfB, the next enjoying more patronage and consequent price increment. It had recorded 52 week high of N1.30 before slowing down to the present market price.

Available financial statement for the second quarter ended 30th September, 2013 showed a decline in profit after tax for the year though the tax expenses reduced significantly. It ended the year with N312.945 million, as against N375.285 million. Similarly, the fees and commission earned within the period fell to N344.042 million from N452.527 million. It, however, grossed N1.292 billion compared to N1.235 billion recorded in corresponding period of 2012.

Conoil Plc was the next with 5.66 percent or N2.78 share price increase as it rose from N49.12 at the beginning of the week to N51.90 per share. It was one of the stocks approved last year for margin lending by the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC. Conoil ranks fourth in terms of share value in the petroleum and petroleum products distributors quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, trailing Total Nigeria Plc, Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc and Forte Oil Plc.

It recorded 255 percent increase in profit after tax from N450.9 million in 2012 to N1.6 billion at as half year-ended June 30, 2013. The profit before tax jumped to N1.98 billion as against N663.1 million recorded in 2012, while the revenue rose to N79.6 billion from N76.2 billion in the same period of 2012.

Skye Bank advanced by 5.62 percent or N0.20 from N3.56 to N3.76 per share; Fidson added five percent or N0.15 from N3.00 to N3.15; 7-Up Bottling Co rose by five percent or N4.13 to close at N86.77 from N82.64; Academy Press advanced by 4.65 percent or N0.08 to close at N1.80 from N1.72; Ikeja Hotel went up by 4.55 percent or N0.03 to close at N0.69 from N0.66, while UBN appreciated by 3.87 percent or N0.38 to close at N10.19 from N9.81 per share.