Cardinalstone, Apt Securities, and Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers led the elite list of top stockbroking firms in Nigeria based on the value of shares brokered in the first half of the year, jointly trading stocks worth over N772.1 billion between January and June 2022.

The triplet accounted for 46.31% of the total stocks traded in the Nigerian equities market in the review period. This is according to information obtained from the Broker Performance Report, released by the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX).

The Nigerian equities market enjoyed a bullish first six months of the year, breaking a 3-year record of posting positive returns in the first half of the year. The last time the local bourse recorded a growth in the market index was in H1 2018 when the All-Share Index grew marginally by 0.092% between January and June 2018.

However, the Nigerian market did not only break the record, its 21.3% gain year-to-date, represents one of the best performing in the world, with increased liquidity and activities in the market. Notably, between January and June of the review year, a total of N1.67 trillion worth of stocks exchanged hands, which is 87.4% of the N1.91 trillion traded in the entire 2020.

The top players in the stockbroking industry have also stepped up their activities, with the top 10 firms accounting 70.16% of the value of shares traded in the market as against 52.11% recorded in the corresponding period of 2021.

According to Nairametrics, below are the best performing stockbroking firms in the first half of 2022 based on the value of shares brokered in the period.

1st: Cardinalstone Securities Limited – N510.76 billion (two spots up)

Cardinalstone led the list with trades valued at N510.78 billion in the first half of 2022, accounting for 30.63% of the total stocks brokered and traded in the Nigerian equities market. Cardinalstone Securities rose from third place in H1 2021 to top the list in the review period.

Also, the firm brokered the trade of 72.19 billion units of shares in the period, indicating that it also traded the highest volume of shares during the first half of the year.

2nd: Apt Securities and Funds – N154.08 billion

Apt Securities and Funds brokered the exchange of stocks worth N154.08 billion in the first half of 2022, representing 9.24% of the total value of stocks traded in the period.

Its traded volume was stated at 5.69 billion units of shares, according to the NGX, which is 3.7% of the total recorded by the local bourse.

It is worth noting that Apt Securities did not make the ranking top 10 list in the corresponding period of 2021.

3rd: Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers Limited – N107.3 billion (two spots down)

Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers Limited traded in stocks valued at N107.3 billion between January and June 2022, which accounts for 6.44% of the total value of shares traded in the market in the period under review.
This is however, 4.3% lower than the N112.09 billion worth of shares brokered in the corresponding half of 2021. Stanbic IBTC traded in a total of 2.85 billion units of shares in the review period, accounting for 1.86% of the total volume for the period.

4th: Meristem Stockbrokers Limited – N88.31 billion (three spots up)

Meristem Stockbrokers moved three spots up from its 7th position recorded in the corresponding period of 2021 to stand in 4th in the review year, having brokered the trade of shares valued at N88.31 billion.
The firm’s traded shares accounts for 5.3% of the total recorded in the Nigerian stock market, a significant improvement compared to the N42.64 billion brokered in H1 2021, and a little less than the N89.46 billion traded in the entire last year.

5th: EFG Hermes Nig. Limited – N74.28 billion (maintain position)

EFG Hermes brokered the sale of 2.09 billion units of shares valued at N74.28 billion, representing 4.45% of the total value of shares that exchanged hands in the first half of the year.
The stockbroking firm maintained the same position held in the previous year, although with a significant improvement in the value of shares traded from N46.22 billion to N74.28 billion.

6th: Cordros Securities Limited – N70 billion

7th: Chapel Hill Denham Securities – N51.57 billion

8th: CSL Stockbrokers Limited – N50.88 billion

9th: Rencap Securities Limited – N34.4 billion

10th: FBN Quest Securities Limited – N28.24 billion