By NKIRUKA NNOROM

On the top 10 performing stocks last were shares of 7-Up Bottling Company Plc, Ikeja Hotels Plc, Mansard insurance plc, Golden Guinea Breweries Plc, Academy Press Plc and UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust Plc.

Others were R.T Briscoe Plc, May & Baker plc, International Breweries Plc, and Courtville Investment Plc.

7-Up led the pack with 10.24 percent or N15.13 price increase to close at N162.96 from N147.73 it started the week at. Listed in Beverages/non-alcoholic sub-sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, 7-Up had declared a dividend of N2.50kobo per share for the financial year ended 31st March, 2014, same as the amount paid the previous year.

Analysts believe that its steady dividend payment policy could be the reason for positive sentiment towards the stock. Price analysis showed that the 52weeks and year-to-date performance respectively stood at 57.73 percent and 65.832 percent gain respectively.

The first quarter financial results for the period ended June 30, 2014, recently released, shown a marked improvement in all the performance indicators.

The revenue for the period rose to N21.032 billion from N17.770 billion, representing 18.4 percent increase, while the net assets increased by 12.5 percent to N19.49 billion as against N17.33 billion recorded in the corresponding period in 2013. The profit before tax at N2.705 billion was 49.9 percent improvement over n1.804 billion posted in 2013, while and the profit after tax rose by 47.2 percent to N2.164 billion from N1.470 billion.

However, analysts at Proshare opined that “the stock is now trading within an extreme overbought region as suggested by price RSI, which may incite cautious trading towards the stock anytime soon”.

Ikeja Hotels, which has been investors’ toast over the past few months, followed with an impressive 8.65 percent or N0.23 to close at n2.89 from N2.66. The stock, however, has been hit by sell pressure as the share price had previously risen to N3.37 earlier in the year, before falling to its present market price. Also, there has been appreciable improvement in the company’s disclosure level having released, not just the 2013 financial statement to the investing public, but has also gone ahead to release the first quarter report and account for march, 2013.

The first quarter result, was, however, showed a poor outing during period despite reduction in tax expense. The revenue for the quarter declined marginally by four percent to N1.522 billion from N1.59 billion in 2013.

The profit before tax for the period fell by 26.7 percent to N251.443 million from N343.063 million, while the profit after tax and earnings per share fell by 26.7 percent and 27.3 percent respectively to N170.981 million from N233.283 million and eight kobo from 11 kobo respectively.

Mansard Insurance was the next with 8.33 percent or N0.23 price appreciation, closing at N2.99 from N2.76. The underwriting firm recently secured approval of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to roll out micro insurance products in Nigeria, becoming one of the first to get the approval after the guideline was released in November 2013. Micro insurance products are insurance products designed to be appropriate for the low-income market in relation to cost, policy terms, coverage and delivery mechanism.

Mansard is one of the few insurance companies in Nigeria that has been up-to-date in updating the investing public with information regarding to its financials. Available financial statement of the company for the half year ended June 30, 2014, showed that the underwriter ended the half year with gross premium of N9.6 billion, up by 27 per cent from N7.54 billion in 2013. Net premium earned stood at N4.5 billion in 2014, compared to N3.5 billion in 2013.

However, management expenses and provision for doubtful accounts rose by 15 per cent from N1.758 billion to N1.999 billion, while profit before tax declined by 52 per cent from N2.1 billion to N993 million, while after tax dipped by 56 per cent from N1.842 billion to N814 million. The dip in profitability, according to the company was expected, due to fall in investment income.

“Last year, we enjoyed two one-off income gains (i.e. unrealized gain on our investment property and profit from the disposal of an unquoted equity) which resulted in income of a little over N1.2 Billion. Backing out this, we have a real growth of 11 per cent on the investment income line,” said the Chief Financial Officer, Mrs. Rashidat Adebisi.

Golden Guinea appreciated by five percent or N0.04 to close at N0.84 from N0.80; Academy Press rose by 4.55 percent or N0.06 to close at N1.38 from N1.32; UPDC REIT advanced by 3.69 percent or N0.32 to close at N9.00 from N8.68; R.T Briscoe followed with 3.49 percent or N0.03 gains to close at N0.89 from N0.86; May & Baker went up by 3.45 percent or N0.06 to close at N1.80 from N1.74; International Breweries appreciated by 3.28 percent or N1.00 to close at N31.50 from N30.50, while Courtville appreciated by 1.92 or N0.01 to close at N0.53 from N0.52 per share.