RT Briscoe Hits 11-Month High as Nigeria Focuses on Farming

RT Briscoe Plc, a Nigerian company that sells cars, tractors and other industrial machinery, rose to the highest in 11 months, benefiting from a national focus on agriculture, according to Lambeth Trust and Investment Co.

The stock advanced as much as 4 percent to 1.72 naira and closed 1.8 percent up in Lagos at 1.68 naira, the highest since July 25. RT Briscoe shares have risen 65 percent this year, compared with a 3.2 percent increase in the Nigerian Stock Exchange All-Share Index over the same period.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation with more than 167 million people, plans to raise its agricultural output to meet local demand and exports, President Goodluck Jonathan said on May 29. This plan will lead to demand in agricultural equipment, including tractors, according to David Adonri, chief executive officer of Lagos-based Lambeth Trust.

“With the current emphasis placed on agriculture now, it means that all operators in the agricultural value chain will enjoy a boom in their business,” he said by phone today. “Investors believe the price could rise to 2 naira within one year. It is a small-cap company with rising profitability.”

Full-year profit for 2011 rose to 215.9 million naira ($1.3 million) from 152 billion naira a year earlier, the company said in a statement published on the website of the Nigerian Stock Exchange on April 26.

To contact the reporter on this story: Vincent Nwanma in Lagos at vnwanma@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dulue Mbachu at dmbachu@bloomberg.net