Sellers hammered stocks across nearly every sector on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) on September 25, but one of the exchange’s biggest names barely moved.
MTN Nigeria escaped the wreckage, with just 300 shares changing hands across the session, settling at ₦861.90 from a previous close of ₦855, while the broader All-Share Index (ASI) slipped from its all-time high. FTSE Russell’s frontier reclassification took effect four sessions earlier, yet the expected wave of foreign capital has not arrived.
How MTN Nigeria traded 300 shares while the rest of NGX crumbled
The NGX Daily Official List confirmed that MTN Nigeria opened at ₦863.00 and closed at ₦861.90 in the September 25 session. Its 52-week range spans from ₦414.10 to ₦915.00, placing the stock roughly 6% below its annual high as the year’s rally begins to flatten out.
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Only 300 shares changed hands on the NGX Daily Official List across the entire session, ranking it among the thinnest trading volumes for the Premium Board heavyweight in recent weeks.
Fidson Healthcare traded just 12 shares two sessions earlier on September 23, but the drugmaker carries far less institutional weight than MTN on the exchange.
(Nairametrics separately reported 4.36 million MTN Nigeria shares for the September 25 session, though the source of the discrepancy with the NGX Daily Official List is unclear.)
That muted activity came just four sessions after Nigeria officially rejoined the FTSE Russell Frontier Index on September 21. The return ended a three-year absence from the global index provider’s classification system. MTN was one of ten large-cap stocks selected for inclusion alongside Dangote Cement, Zenith Bank, GTCO, and Aradel Holdings.
Seplat Energy led the exchange by trade value on the same session, while Fidelity Bank topped the volume chart with 212.77 million shares, Kobo Terminal data showed.
The contrast between those names and MTN Nigeria’s 300-share session underscores how unevenly liquidity is distributed across the exchange right now.
Broader NGX session saw sellers push several stocks toward their daily limits
The All-Share Index (ASI) closed at 252,113.41 points on September 25, easing 0.015% from the prior session’s record of 252,150.01 points, Nairametrics reported.
Total market capitalization slipped by ₦20 billion to ₦163.66 trillion, a modest haircut at the index level that masked sharper losses in individual stocks.
TotalEnergies Marketing Nigeria led the session’s losers, down 10% to ₦518.40, while Legend Internet Group, Haldane McCall, and Caverton Offshore shed between 8% and 9.1%.
Market breadth finished positive, with 39 gainers versus 27 decliners, but the losers carried heavier capitalization weight than the stocks that advanced.
MTN Group’s chief executive has attributed the company’s resilience to an expanding subscriber base and record operating margins that kept widening through the first half of 2026.
“MTN delivered a strong consolidated first-half performance in 2026, with growth in our subscriber base accelerating in Q2 2026” — Ralph Mupita, MTN Group CEO, MTN Investor Relations
The session came three days after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) cut its benchmark Monetary Policy Rate by 350 basis points to 23%. That rate cut had initially ignited a multi-session winning streak on the exchange before profit-taking set in.
Four out of five brokerages still rate MTN Nigeria a buy
Four of five brokerage firms surveyed in late September maintained Buy recommendations on MTN Nigeria, with 12-month targets ranging from ₦1,009.66 to ₦1,703 per share.
Cowry Research, Blue Marina, Arthur Steven Asset Management, and First Securities all recommended the stock, while Futureview issued a Hold rating, Nairametrics reported on September 22.
The average target across those firms stands at ₦1,244.64, implying roughly 44% upside from the September 25 closing price of ₦861.90.
That bullish consensus rests on MTN Nigeria’s first-half 2026 results. Profit after tax surged 70.6% to ₦707.5 billion on service revenue of ₦3.0 trillion, according to MTN Nigeria’s half-year results.
EBITDA margin expanded 5.3 percentage points to 55.9% during the first half, even as operating expenses grew only 11.3% despite ongoing energy cost pressures across the Nigerian business.
Data revenue continued to drive the top line, supported by rising smartphone adoption and the tariff adjustments the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) approved earlier in the year.
Key MTN Nigeria trading data from September 25
- Official open: ₦863.00; official close: ₦861.90 (NGX Daily Official List)
- Previous close: ₦855.00 (Investing.com)
- Shares traded: 300 (NGX Daily Official List)
- 52-week range: ₦414.10 to ₦915.00 (NGX Daily Official List)
- H1 2026 profit after tax: ₦707.5 billion, up 70.6% (MTN Nigeria half-year results)
- Average analyst target: ₦1,244.64, 39.8% upside from survey price of ₦890; 44.4% from September 25 close (Nairametrics)
What the thin tape signals for MTN Nigeria’s next move
The near-empty order book on September 25 suggests that both buyers and sellers are waiting for a catalyst before placing larger bets on MTN Nigeria.
Four of five brokerage firms surveyed by Nairametrics still project significant upside, with the average 12-month target sitting at ₦1,244.64, roughly 44% above the current level.
The stock’s first-half earnings growth of 70.6%, its expanded 55.9% EBITDA margin, and its new FTSE Russell membership all back the case those four brokerages have made.
But the 300-share session also shows that foreign index-tracking flows have not arrived in force. Four trading days after the reclassification, the expected wave of passive capital remains absent.
