Stock market lifted by company

March 2, 2016 12:24 PM

"Some investors were excited by the dividend payout by Dangote Cement and this has boosted interest in the shares," one stock dealer said.

Traders work at the Nigerian Stock Exchange in Lagos, February 13, 2015. REUTERS/Joe Penney

Nigerian stocks rose to a seven-week high on Wednesday, driven by gains in Dangote Cement after the company proposed to increase its full-year dividend by 33 percent to 8 naira ($0.04) per share.

Shares in Dangote Cement, which accounts for a third of the total market capitalisation of the bourse's constituents, rose by 7 percent to 162 naira after its 2 percent rise in pretax profit for 2015 and dividend increase.

Nigeria's all-share index, which has the second-biggest weighting behind Kuwait on the MSCI frontier market index, was up 2.5 percent at 25,448 points by 1159 GMT, its highest level since Jan. 13.

Tiger Brands, also majority owned by African billionaire Aliko Dangote, was another gainer, rising 9.3 percent.

Zenith Bank was up 4.7 percent, Dangote Sugar rose by nearly 5 percent and Pan African banking group Ecobank Transnational Inc gained 2.4 percent.

($1 = 199 naira)