NICOL shareholders’ paper wealth, is continuing to grow further, after the collective investment scheme’s share price on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) reached all-time high during the opening of this week.

The DSE market report shows the company’s share price closed at 750/- on Monday, an increase of 50 percent, compared to 500/- recorded at the beginning of the year and 170/- five years ago.

 “This uptrend is a testament to the investment company’s stellar performance in the year 2023,” said Ammi Mwamunyi, financial market specialist at Core Securities.

In his weekly market synopsis published on the Daily News, the specialist said during last year, the investment company’s total investment income surged by 33 percent, primarily propelled by investment income, which constituted 54 percent of total and interest income, representing 46 percent.

“NICO financial well-being is intimately connected with the ebbs and flows of Tanzania’s banking sector, largely due to its substantial holdings in NMB Bank. Consequently, the fund’s performance is directly impacted by the sector’s fluctuations,” he explained.

However, he said the current fund’s price valuation is significantly lower than its Net Asset Value (NAV) per share, which stands at 2,255/-, suggesting a pronounced undervaluation in the market place.

“The marked discrepancy between NICOL’s trading price and NAV, together with the fund’s record of consistent dividend payout for the past three years, render NICOL an attractive investment for those seeking leveraged participation in NMB shares,” he asserted.

Commenting on the development yesterday, NICOL Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Erasto Ngamilaga stated; “It has a big meaning to us, because we are continuing to implement our diversification strategies, specifically on government bonds and real estate which offer us promising returns”.

“For investors who are trying to find a place to invest, they see huge prospect for NICOL considering that our net asset value is by far higher due to ongoing investment including the real estate whereby we purchase the Milambo property last year, of which its income is guaranteed,” he said.

He said NICOL has also invested in other areas in real estate sector, of which have also started to generate returns, which increase prospect of growing the fund’s investment income.

“We have also invested at least 35bn/- on the long term government debt instrument (bonds), which assure future dividends for our shareholders,” he said.

“But prospective and existing shareholders are also looking on our portfolio on banking industry, specifically our 5 percent stake on NMB Bank.  When the bank grows, the value of our stake is also growing, giving an assurance of shareholders’ returns.”

He said NICOL has also offloaded the non-performing investments including the Meat Company in Dodoma and Fish processing company in Mwanza, of which were draining the fund’s incomes and have remained with only best performing investment, where they are continuing to invest.

Other targeted investment portfolios, according to the CEO include agriculture and warehouse.

“One of the most important is that we have also reduced our expenses. Our previous spending was too high and we have managed to scale it down due to visionary members of our board of directors, who have enabled these achievements as promised during our shareholders meetings,” he added.

The Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) daily market report shows during the opening trading session of this week, NICOL counter (NICO) recorded the transaction of 28,040 shares valued 20.97m/- traded at a price ranging from 700/- to 770/- per share in 12 deals.

The share price closed at 750/-, compared to the opening price of 700/-, which boosted its market capitalization to 46.23bn/-.