The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it would revoked the registration of about 400 capital market experts and professionals who do not comply with the directive to provide updated information of their companies by July 31, 2017.
According to a circular from SEC, yesterday, any firm whose response is not received within this time frame would be considered inactive and the SEC would exercise its power to revoke its registration.
SEC said pursuant to the powers conferred on it by the Investments and Securities Act (ISA) 2007, it has directed all capital market experts or professionals to provide updated information of their companies/firms in December 2016 and February 2017.
The commission observed that a large number of capital market experts or professionals comprising Reporting Accountants, Solicitors, and Estate Surveyors/Valuers, among others did not respond to the request.
“The concerned firms are by the circular required to indicate their interest in retaining their registration with SEC as capital market experts or professionals by providing updated information on their firms.
“They are also reminded that the minimum number of Sponsored Individuals required for their registered function is three, including a Compliance Officer,” SEC said.
According to SEC, in recognition that a larger number of capital market experts or professionals have offices in Lagos, the Commission in January 2017 relocated its Registration and Inspectorate Divisions to Lagos.
“The concerned capital market experts or professionals are enjoined to visit any of the commission’s offices in Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Kano for further clarification:
“All concerned capital market experts are required to comply with this directive on or before July 31, 2017 as any firm whose response is not received within this time frame would be considered inactive and the SEC would exercise its power to revoke its registration,” the statement added.
FOLLOWING the recent rebalancing of the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Frontier Index, Nigeria’s weighting in the index increased to 7.9 per cent from 6.5 per cent. In this development, analysts from Cardinal Stone Research, a Lagos based investment house, yesterday, said that it has reviewed the details of recent announcement by the MSCI ahead of the planned announcement (on June 20) of a reclassification (or not) of Nigeria to ‘Standalone’ status.
The increase in the weighting followed the move of Pakistan from the Frontier Markets Index to the Emerging Markets Index. There are 16 Nigerian stocks in the index and the new weightings are shown as follows: Nigerian Breweries 1.76 per cent; Guaranty Trust Bank 1.45 per cent; Zenith Bank 0.86 per cent, NESTLE 0.80 per cent; Dangote Cement 0.60 per cent; UBA 0.40 per cent: Access Bank 0.33 per cent; Stanbic IBTC 0.32 per cent; FirstBank Nigeria Holding 0.27 per cent; Seplat 0.24 per cent. Others are: Guinness Nigeria Plc 0.22 per cent, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, ETI 0.22 per cent, WAPCO 0.21 per cent, Unilever Nigeria 0.20 per cent, PZ Nigeria 0.06 per cent, Forte Oil 0.05 per cent, and Total Nigeria 7.90 per cent. According to Cardinal Stone Research, “a total number of 14 funds worth $969 million currently track the MSCI Frontier Index according to data from Bloomberg.
We think that following the events of the past one to two years, most of these funds sold off Nigerian equities and many are still underweight Nigeria. Decision on reclassification still ahead, but we expect a positive outcome – Nigeria is currently under review for a potential reclassification as part of the MSCI 2017 Annual Market Classification Review.” It should be noted that the decision to review Nigeria’s status to “Standalone”, from the Frontier Markets Index, came on the heels of the liquidity issues that plagued the country’s foreign exchange (FX) market. According to Morgan Stanley, the introduction of restrictions on foreign currency trading in the first half of 2015 as well as the huge scarcity of the green back resulted in a deterioration of market accessibility, and thus consultations with market participants would be held until a decision is taken and announced by June 2017.
However, following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) consistent supply of FX to the market, liquidity has improved significantly across the market’s major segments – the interbank, the newly introduced investors/exporters FX (NAFEX) window and the parallel market.
Basking in the euphoria of the near rate convergence achieved in the foreign exchange (forex) market, indications emerged yesterday that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would sustain its dollar injection in the market this week.
The sell side of the naira exchange rate against the dollar appreciated significantly by N12, to close at N363 to the dollar on the parallel market on Friday, as against the N375 to the dollar as was last Thursday.
Also, the buy rate of the greenback closed at N369 to the dollar on Friday, stronger than the N382 to the dollar it was the previous day.
To this end, a reliable source at the central bank revealed that the Bank was not resting on its oars and remained determined to ensure a convergence between the interbank and Bureau de Change (BDC) rates soon, hence the move to continue its intervention in the interbank market.
The CBN Acting Director, Corporate Communications, Isaac Okorafor, confirmed that there were indeed plans by the CBN to make necessary interventions in the forex market, in line with its earlier resolve to achieve forex rates convergence and liquidity in the market.
On how the bank hoped to sustain its interventions, Okorafor said the CBN has enough forex to meet the requirements of all customers, who had genuine need for the dollar.
He also expressed optimism that the current policy of the bank and the cooperation of all stakeholders would check the unwholesome activities of speculators.
CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, while commenting recently on how far the CBN would go in sustaining its market interventions, had said: “I have said it and I will repeat myself that the interventions will be more vigorous than before to underscore the fact that we are determined to ensure that the Nigerian economy recovers, by making sure that foreign exchange is being made available to operators of the economy to conduct their businesses.”
The production capacity of the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company has significantly fallen due to pipeline sabotage, OKECHUKWU NNODIM writes
The oil production subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, has been recording steady monthly losses arising from its inability to sell substantial volume of crude oil it is producing.
An analysis of the month-by-month financial report of the NPDC showed that the company’s inability to sell crude had steadily reduced its revenue between February 2016 and February 2017 by about N20bn monthly.
Officials of the NNPC confirmed to our correspondent in Abuja that the petroleum development company had lost over N260bn as a result of this, adding that the crude production capability of the NPDC had dropped by 70 per cent.
They noted that the national oil firm could indeed attain lofty heights with the support of Nigerians, especially in areas of security and integrity of infrastructure.
The Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, NNPC, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, admitted that the NPDC’s inability to sell crude and the resultant effect on the company’s revenue had been a source of concern to the corporation.
He, however, stated that the management of the NNPC was working out ways to address the issue.
“On the NPDC and pipeline vandalism, the NNPC management is still discussing it,” Ughamadu, who also referred our correspondent to the corporation’s reports on the matter, said.
In one of its financial and operations reports, the corporation stated that “with the restoration of the NPDC production, the NNPC can indeed post more impressive results where substantial portion of crude oil sale for the month of over N20bn could not be realised.”
Similarly, the NNPC in its just released operations reports for February 2017, showed that the NPDC’s contribution to the national crude oil and condensate production in January this year was the lowest at 1.18 million barrels, when compared with the contributions from joint ventures at 16.23 million barrels; production sharing contracts, 28.2 million barrels; alternative funding, 8.57 million barrels; and independent/marginal fields, 2.77 million barrels.
“Of the January 2017 production, JVs and PSCs contributed about 28.5 per cent and 49.52 per cent, respectively. While AF, NPDC and independents/marginal fields accounted for 15.05 per cent, 2.07 per cent and 4.86 per cent, respectively,” the corporation stated.
Officials of the oil firm told our correspondent on Saturday that the compromise of the integrity of the NNPC’s infrastructure by vandals, which led to the declaration of a force majeure by Shell Petroleum Development Company following the vandalism of the 48-inch Forcados export line, resulted in production shut-in of about 300,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
In a presentation to the House of Representatives Committee on Local Content, which was made available to our correspondent in Abuja, the NPDC’s Managing Director, Mr. Yusuf Matashi, explained that the pulverisation of the Forcados trunk line by militants in 2016 also impacted gas production by the company and its JV partners gravely.
He said, “The attack, which primarily led to a loss of about 70 per cent of the NPDC’s crude oil production capability, also had an effect on gas production. Unfortunately, gas production in the region we operate is not non-associated gas but associated with the crude oil we produce.
“So by the time we shut in the oil well, we also shut in most of the gas. That is why we now see the level of gas supply shortage for power generation.”
Matashi noted that some other operators might have other reasons for the shortfall in gas supply in their domain, but stressed that the damage of the Forcados export terminal supply line was the biggest obstacle to the production of gas by the NPDC and its JV partners.
He, however, stated that the company would increase its gas production by as much as 50 per cent whenever the Forcados line comes back on stream.
“The impact of the attack on that line is immeasurable and in the last one year, the NPDC has struggled to mitigate the effects of that act on its production,” Matashi explained.
The Director, Emerald Energy Institute, University of Port Harcourt, Prof. Wumi Iledare, expressed worry over the vandalism of pipelines and its impact on oil earnings by the country.
He, however, lauded the efforts of the Federal Government, led by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, in ensuring peace and stability in the Niger Delta, a development that had also impacted positively on crude oil production in recent times.
Iledare said, “Why should someone or a group of persons rupture the country’s pipelines and plunge the entire nation into dire straits financially? It is uncalled for and should be condemned by all.
“This is particularly painful when you consider the effects of such acts on our national economy, although we’ve recorded some improvements in production volumes in recent times after the series of interventions by the acting President in the Niger Delta region.”
On oil production volumes, the latest operations report of the NNPC stated that a total of 56.95 million barrels of crude oil and condensate was produced in January 2017, representing an average daily production of 1.84 million barrels.
This represents an increase of 16.51 per cent compared to December 2016 performance.
It stated that the NPDC’s cumulative production from all fields (January 2016 to January 2017) amounted to 18,196,613 barrels of crude oil, which translated to an average daily production of 45,835 barrels.
Comparing the NPDC performance to national production, the report stated that the company’s production share amounted to 2.53 per cent.
It said, “The NPDC production continued to be hampered by the incessant pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta. The NPDC is projected to ramp up production level to 250,000 barrels per day after the completion of the ongoing the NPDC re-kitting project and repairs of vandalised facilities.
“Production from the NPDC wholly operated assets amounted to 9,781,195 barrels (or 53.75 per cent of the total NPDC production) with Okono Okpoho (OML 119) alone producing 91.90 per cent of the NPDC wholly owned operated assets or 49.4 per cent of the total NPDC production.”
On the NPDC operated JV assets, in which the firm owns 55 per cent controlling interest, crude oil production amounted to 4,850,475 barrels or 26.66 per cent of the company’s total production.
The report also noted that for the non-operated assets, production level stood at 3,564,943 barrels or 19.59 per cent of the company’s production.
The Chairman of Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, Dr. ABC Orjiako, Thursday assured shareholders that the company has put in place strategies that would improve its financial performance and deliver better value going forward.
Several economic headwinds and the shut-in of the Forcados terminal resulting in lower production, lower oil price realisations and higher costs, made Seplat’s revenue to fall from N113 billion in 2015 to N63.7 billion in 2016, while a loss of N45.4 billion was recorded compared with a profit of N13 billion in 2015.
However, speaking at the annual general meeting of the company held in Lagos, Orjiako said with the diversity of export solutions in place and “our increasing gas processing capacity, Seplat has the potential to deliver material production upside with less risk of significant constraints from any infrastructure disruption”.
According to him, the company is actively pursuing alternative crude oil evacuation options for production at OMLs 4, 38 and 41 and potential strategies to further grow and diversify production in order to reduce over-reliance on one particular third party operated export system in the future.
“In line with this objective, Seplat successfully implemented, in 2016, an alternative export solution during the second quarter whereby crude oil production from OMLs 4, 38 and 41 is sent via the company’s own 100,000 barrel of oil per day (bopd) capacity pipeline to available storage tanks at the Warri refinery,” he said.
Explaining the challenges faced by the company in 2016, Chief Executive Officer of Seplat Austin Avuru said: “In addition to a difficult global oil market backdrop, our business had to contend with unprecedented operational challenges due to interruptions and these are reflected in our full year results.”
He disclosed that the company has now established a longer-term alternative export route via the Warri refinery jetty and is nearing completion of upgrade works to the infrastructure enabling a doubling of barging volumes to a steady 30,000 bopd gross during Q2 2017.
According to him, alongside this, the company is collaborating and supporting government on the completion of the Amukpe to Escravos pipeline that will offer a third export route through the Escravos terminal.
The naira appreciated to 374 per United States dollar on Thursday, up from 382/dollar on Wednesday.
The local unit closed at 382/dollar from Monday to Wednesday.
This came just as currency analysts expect the naira to be stable across the board in the near term on increased dollar supply to both the official interbank window and the black market.
The local unit has been trading around 382/dollar on the black market in the last two weeks, while at the interbank market the naira was trading at around 305.40 per dollar.
According to Reuters, the Central Bank of Nigeria has been intervening on the official market to try to narrow the spread between the official interbank and black markets.
The CBN has sold over $4bn since February, improving dollar supply and providing support for the naira.
On the back of sustained dollar injection by the CBN, the local unit has been showing resilience against the greenback.
The CBN has injected $100m, $205m and $457.3m respectively into various segments of the forex market in the past three weeks.
Currency analysts said the creation of the “Investors & Exporters FX Window” by the CBN was a right move, adding that it had helped to narrow the gap between the official and parallel market rates of the local unit.
They, however, stressed the need for the unification of the various exchange rates by the central bank.
The Kenyan shilling could gain ground against the dollar in the coming week with dwindling end month importer demand giving way to foreign exchange inflows from charities and exporters, traders said.
The equities market appreciated highest in 11 months on Thursday, driven by gains in banking and cement shares as investors took advantage of the low valuation for some commercial bank shares.
The market rose by 2.77 per cent to cross 30,197 points, lifted by gains in First Bank Holdings Plc and Dangote Cement Plc. At the close of trading, the year-to-date return settled at 12.80 per cent. There were 39 gainers and 11 losers.
FBN Holdings Plc topped the gainers’ list, advancing by 10 per cent, to close at a year high of N5.83. This was followed by May and Baker Nigeria Plc, Learn Africa Plc, Champion Breweries Plc and Access Bank Plc, which appreciated by 9.40 per cent, 8.11 per cent, 6.99 per cent and 5.53 per cent, accordingly.
However, Linkage Assurance Plc closed the day atop the losers’ chart, declining by 9.52 per cent, to close at N0.57. This was followed by Oando Plc, 7UP Bottling Company Plc, Jaiz Bank Plc and Caverton Offshore Support Group Plc, which declined by 5.33 per cent, 4.99 per cent, 4.21 per cent and 4.17 per cent, respectively.
Meanwhile, the NSE, at an interactive session on Thurday, launched X-Academy, a knowledge-platform designed to provide education services to individuals who want to gain a better understanding of the various aspects of the capital market. X-Academy offers a wide range of courses geared towards bridging the knowledge gap of dealing members, issuers, investors and the general public about products and services of the capital market.
The establishment of X-Academy is said consistent with the Exchange’s tradition of pioneering far-reaching innovations within the Nigerian capital market. It also feeds directly into the National Financial Inclusion Strategy which was launched by the Federal Government in 2012 to reduce the number of adult Nigerians who are financially excluded, from 46.3 per cent in 2010 to 20 per cent in 2020.
Speaking at the session, the Chief Executive Officer, NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema, noted that the training programmes at X-Academy would provide individuals and businesses with a robust and effective array of training solutions that would ensure participants were abreast with trends in the rapidly evolving financial markets.
He said, “As a socially responsible organisation devoted to enhancing the fortunes of Nigerians and our investors, we are confident that participants of programmes offered by X-Academy will be better positioned to make informed financial decisions”.
Also speaking at the event, the Acting Head, Corporate Services Division, Ms Pai Gamde, stated, “X-Academy is a crucial step to enhancing financial literacy levels in Nigeria and equipping professionals with requisite skill sets to deliver innovative solutions for the challenges confronting our financial sector.”
The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has stated its resolve to lead in enhancing capacity building and bridging skills gaps in the banking industry in general and the Deposit Insurance Scheme (DIS) in particular in Africa.
The NDIC’s Managing Director/Chief Executive, Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim, made this remark during the accreditation ceremony of the NDIC Academy as a training service provider for its staff and the banking industry by the Council of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Lagos.
According to a statement, Ibrahim said with the NDIC Academy’s new status, it was positioned to fulfil the corporation’s goal of serving as a centre of academic excellence for capacity building on the DIS for countries in the sub-Saharan Africa.
He added that the corporation prides itself on establishing high standards of professionalism and competency among its staff through the corporation’s NDIC Academy and other human capital development initiatives, including the Chartered Banker/MBA programme of University of Bangor, Scotland in partnership with the CIBN.
The NDIC CEO emphasised the importance of continuous high level training in order to achieve the corporation’s core mandates of deposit guarantee, bank supervision, bank distress resolution and bank liquidation. The ultimate goal, he said, would be to enhance depositor protection and public confidence in the banking system.
In his earlier address, the President and Chairman, Council of CIBN, Prof. Segun Ajibola, commended the corporation for its consistent efforts towards meeting high standards for the benefit of the banking industry and larger economy. Ajibola described the NDIC’s readiness to subject itself to the rigours of the accreditation process as a testimony of its management’s commitment towards capacity development in order to equip its workforce with critical skills to enhance their performance and productivity.
The Law Union & Rock Insurance Plc ended the 2016 financial year with N3.935 billion gross premium, up from N3.858 billion.
The company grew its profit before tax (PBT) by 101 per cent, from N328 million in 2015 to N658 million in 2016, while total assets rose from N8.580 billion while shareholders’ funds grew by 13.03 per cent from N4.45 billion to N5.039 billion.
Addressing the shareholders at the 48th annual general meeting (AGM) of the company in Lagos, the Chairman of Law Union & Rock Insurance, Mr. Remi Babalola, said the company recorded marginal increase its top-line and significant growth in its bottom-line.
Babalola said: “If you look at the performance of the company in 2016, you will realise that the company is doing better every year. Since 2012 we have been doing better than other years. The company had a very good brand, but faced some challenge which made things not go very well for them. We were among the topmost insurance companies in the country if you trace through history.
By the time we came into the company, it was struggling, therefore what we did was to change the management, the board, and improve the policies. Also, we put good risk management practices. We then came up with a corporate plan and good strategy and we allowed the management to implement that strategy.”
He said the company has brought in a foreign investor as part of the shareholders, disclosing that the company did a private placement last year which was successful and the foreign investor has put money into the company.
“We are looking for leverage in the areas where we are going to bring in technology to enhance product and diversify the company,” he said. Speaking on the insurance industry, he said insurance business in Nigeria has not started because when you compare the contribution of the insurance sector to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) it is very low.
“When we compare with Ghana, Kenya and South Africa, while we have zero per cent in terms of GDP, they have above three per cent. There is tremendous opportunity in the insurance business, but it needs the right risk management, appropriate capital, right technology and well-motivated workforce. These are what the Law Union and Rock has right now,” he added.
According to Babalola, upon the approval of the shareholders of the company to raise additional capital by way of private placement requisite regulatory approvals were obtained for the issue.
He added that consequent upon a conditional approval issued by the National Insurance Commission (NIC) that the investor’s post-placement position should not exceed 20 per cent of the company’s equity, the placement subscribed was 83.3 per cent, thereby bringing the total shares subscribed to the 859 million ordinary shares.
The Chief Executive Officer, Mouka Nigeria Limited, Mr. Ray Murphy, says the London Stock Exchange Group’s ‘Companies to Inspire Africa’ report is meant to increase awareness of investment opportunities in Nigeria and Africa in general.
He said the initiative could also enhance capital inflows into the continent.
“It (London Stock Exchange Group’ Company to Inspire Africa report) is to increase awareness of investment opportunities, to get capital inflows going again; obviously, as companies grow they need further levels in capital,” Murphy noted.
Mouka was recently listed in the London Stock Exchange Group’s inaugural ‘Companies to Inspire Africa’ report, a landmark report that identifies the fastest-growing and most dynamic businesses across Africa, the company said in a statement on Thursday.
The ‘Companies to Inspire Africa initiative’ is part of London Stock Exchange Group’s broader support campaign for dynamic companies that have shown excellent growth rate and potential to power Africa’s development.
Murphy described his company’s recognition in the report as great honour, saying “Mouka’s inclusion in the inaugural Companies to Inspire Africa report was in recognition of the company’s unfailing commitment and passion to manufacturing high quality mattresses and pillows that adds comfort to life for every Nigerian.”
During the London LSEG’s regional event in Lagos recently, Murphy expressed his delight at the listing.
He said, “I think for us it is a tremendous honour to be recognised internationally for the performance of the company within Nigeria. It is a tremendous honour. We were contacted several months back by the London Stock Exchange Group, they were putting together this programme of companies to inspire Africa and they identified companies with some criteria.
“I think the first is exponential growth, so we were one of a select band of companies, not just in Nigeria but throughout Africa, which are recognised for their successes and we were asked to participate in this ‘Company to Inspire Africa initiative.”
He added, “The companies selected were about 300 around Africa which we were identified but out of that 300, nearly 60 of them were in Nigeria and Mouka was one of those selected in Nigeria.”
