By Sebastine Obasi

Lagos—Shareholders of Oando Plc have a lot to cheer as their company’s share rose by 131 percent, its highest level in 18 months.

Analysts at Afrinvest Limited said that the upbeat performance in the equities market was mainly driven by solid first quarter, Q1, 2017 earnings, as well as the knock-on effect of improved foreign exchange liquidity.

The upturn was said to be significantly impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks. Oando, which remained at the top of the gainers list for five straight days led 33 other gainers last Thursday, including Access Bank, FBN Holdings, Guaranty Trust Bank, Dangote Cement, Nigerian Breweries, Okomu Oil, Zenith Bank and Stanbic IBTC.

Oando’s return to profitability and increase in share price is indicative of the successful implementation of its corporate initiatives focused on growth across its operations.

“The first quarter earnings underscore our proactive decision to focus on our dollar denominated export businesses. Our resilience is evident in our capacity to grow via a diversified model, and as we continue to chart our deliberate path in this challenging business environment, we look forward to better performance in the quarters to come,” said Wale Tinubu, Chairman of the Group.