Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, the financial market infrastructure for the Nigerian capital market, appeared to be attracting investors to the NASD OTC Securities Exchange, the over-the-counter (OTC) market for trading in the unlisted securities.
Transaction details at NASD and financial reports of CSCS showed the company as one of the three most active stocks on the NASD while it has delivered capital gains of more than 70 per cent over the past two years.
CSCS, the Central Securities Depository (CSD) and settlement institution for the capital market, has proven to be an alternative way for a stable and diversified exposure to the capital market.
Amid the bearish equity market over the past two years, the shares of CSCS rallied strongly, gaining over 70 per cent over the past two years, delivering stellar return to its shareholders. The performance of the stock partly reflected the steady dividend payment culture of the company.
Its recent 70 kobo per share dividend translated to a dividend yield of 5.8 per cent on its closing share price of N12 at the weekend. Beyond the steady cashflow that the CSCS dividend provides to investors, the strong fundamentals of the company has been a compelling attraction to investors.
CSCS recorded a pre-tax profit of N6.1 billion in 2018 and most analysts expected the company to improve on its bottom-line in the immediate past business year ended December 31, 2019.