Petroleum downstream player, Conoil Plc, has recorded a growth of 196 per cent in its 2016 half-year profit.
The unaudited half-year report of the oil marketing company filed with the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Friday showed that its profit before tax rose from N528.5m in 2015 to N1.566bn in 2016 representing 196 per cent increase.
Another major highpoint of the six-month scorecard was the 190 per cent increase in profit after tax from N359.4m in 2015 to N1.04bn in 2016, while earnings per share also rose from 52 kobo to 150 kobo, representing an increase of 190 per cent.
The company’s results were said to have prevailed against the volatility in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry and the nation’s receding economy. Going by the performance, it is expected that higher dividend payout for its shareholders at the end of the current financial year was realistic.
The company had declared N2.08bn last year, translating into the N3 dividend payout on every 50kobo ordinary share for the 2015 financial year, compared to N1 paid in 2014.
The firm said the capital market had been reacting positively to the company’s laudable 2015 financial performance, with a recent surge in the demand for its stock by investors. So far, Conoil investors have reaped a return of 34 per cent in the last two weeks, as the equity appreciated in value, it noted.
The company said, “The result shows that we out-performed our previous year in the top-line and should exceed our bottom-line performance at the current run-rate.
“The impressive performance was linked to the company’s innovative means of manufacturing and distributing products, huge financial investments in developing high-performance products and in the provision of services that matched and surpassed international standards.”
In order to finance the 2016 budget, the Federal Government is to raise $1bn through the issuance of Eurobonds by November, investigation has shown.
The amount to be raised from the international bonds market is part of the $4.5bn that the Federal Government plans to borrow from the market in three years.
Authoritative sources told our correspondent on Wednesday that the government was watching events in the international capital market to know the best opportune time to approach it to raise the fund.
Further investigation revealed that the international capital market had become very attractive to the Federal Government because of the dearth of foreign exchange in the country as a result of poor earnings from the nation’s major forex earner, crude oil.
It was also learnt that most of the monies expected from external borrowings to finance the 2016 budget would come from the issuance of the $1bn Eurobonds.
Other sources recently approved by Federal Executive Council for external borrowing to support the 2016 budget are the World Bank, African Development Bank, China Exim Bank and the Japanese International Cooperation Agency.
According to the budget passed by the National Assembly in May, the Federal Government is to borrow N900bn from external sources and N984bn from local sources.
At an exchange rate of N400 to a dollar, the $1bn that the government plans to raise through Eurobonds is N400bn or 44.44 per cent of the N900bn it plans to borrow from abroad to finance some capital projects in the 2016 budget.
In preparation for the issuance of the Eurobonds, the Debt Management Office has advertised for key partners to offer the government consultancy services in order to avoid poor showing at the international bonds market.
The consultants being sought by the Federal Government through the DMO are two international banks to serve as joint lead managers, one local bank to serve as financial adviser, one legal adviser and one technical adviser on communication.
In the advert, the DMO stated, “The Federal Republic of Nigeria is in the process of establishing a $4.5bn Federal Government Medium Term Note Programme, 2016 – 2018, out of which it intends to issue $1bn Eurobond in the year 2016.
“The purpose of establishing the FGMTN programme is to enable the FRN to have the flexibility of quickly taking advantage of favourable market conditions in the international capital market to raise funds, if and only when the need arises.”
Our correspondent learnt that officials of the DMO and the Ministry of Finance would in alliance with the transaction partners soon begin to sensitise the market to enable the country to take the earliest advantage of the market even though a target of November had been set.
It was also learnt that the Federal Government had adopted a cautious approach to the market in order to get the best result.
In 2015, the Federal Government could not muster the courage to approach the international bond market to raise the funds that it had scheduled to borrow from the market because of circumstances prevailing within and outside the country.
Instead, it resorted to the local bond market to raise the funds it had earmarked to borrow from abroad.
The government could also not approach the market early enough this year because the 2016 budget that prescribed a borrowing of N900bn from external sources could not be passed until May.
However, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma, had at a recent town hall meeting, said the government had a 12-month window to implement the 2016 budget. This means that the government can continue to implement the budget till May 2017.
Trading on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange closed on a positive note on Wednesday, after the two-day public holiday declared by the Federal Government.
The stock market appreciated by N22bn despite losses in 20 stocks.
The NSE market capitalisation rose to N9.495tn from N9.473tn recorded last Friday, while the All-Share Index closed at 27,642.13 basis points from 27,577.52 basis points.
A total of 182.298 million shares valued at N1.788bn exchanged hands in 2,776 deals.
Following the two-day break, the NSE ASI rose by 0.23 per cent lifted by gains across industrial and consumer goods companies.
The industrial goods sector was up by 0.48 per cent largely on the back of a positive close in Dangote Cement Plc’s shares (0.87 per cent). Likewise, the consumer goods sector climbed higher following gains in the stocks of Unilever Nigeria Plc (4.99 per cent), Champion Breweries Plc (0.241 per cent) and Dangote Flour Plc (2.37 per cent gain).
The financial services sector, however, shed some weight owing to losses in the shares of Diamond Bank Plc (5.83 per cent), Sterling Bank Plc (4.95 per cent) and FCMB Group Plc (4.48 per cent).
The oil and gas sector closed flat after a rally by Conoil Plc (10.17 per cent) and an advance in Oando Plc (two per cent) were watered by a decline in Seplat Petroleum Development Company Limited (1.54 per cent).
Market breadth turned negative with 18 advances and 20 declines.
Noting that the NSE ASI rode on gains in a few bellwether stocks to close higher on Wednesday’s session, analysts at Vetiva Capital Management Limited said, “We do not overrule the possibility of a reversal in the coming session as we think the relatively lower volume traded and the negative market breadth suggest that sentiment remain weak.”
Global markets traded mixed, with speculations over when the United States Fed could raise interest rates, keeping investors on the edge.
Guinness Nigeria Plc plans to increase exports to improve sales and generate more foreign exchange as the country’s second-largest brewer battles to overcome an economic slump in its home market.
The unit of London-based Diageo Plc will consider selling Guinness stout and the herbal drink Orijin in South Africa to boost the proportion of beverages it sends to international markets, Chief Executive Officer, Peter Ndegwa, said in an interview with Bloomberg.
That will help resolve the brewer’s shortage of foreign currency in Nigeria, which the beverage maker needs to pay for imported goods.
“With all the challenges we have had with foreign currency availability, we realise that export is a great opportunity to gain foreign exchange and stabilise,” Ndegwa said.
“We have heard a lot of inquiries from South Africa. We are currently in the process of seeing how we can export some of those brands to the country.”
Heineken NV is also expanding in South Africa with the recent introduction of Sol Mexican lager, part of a plan to boost its market share in a country dominated by SABMiller Plc. Guinness Nigeria will also seek to export beer to target Africans living on other continents, Ndegwa said.
Generating foreign currency from exports would help Guinness Nigeria offset a scarcity of dollars in its home market caused partly by a slump in oil revenue, the country’s biggest earner.
The economy is on track to shrink 1.8 per cent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund. That would be Nigeria’s first full-year contraction since 1991, according to data from the nation’s statistics agency.
Guinness Nigeria is seeing drinkers switch to cheaper beer brands such as Satzenbrau as disposable incomes decline, and is expanding its range of spirits to increase choice in its more affordable product range.
“We are focused on brands that are lower priced, by either improving distribution or improving awareness,” Ndegwa said. “We have spirit brands across all categories but the growth is mid-to-lower end.”
Johannesburg – MTN Group [JSE:MTN], Africa’s largest mobile-phone operator by sales, said it entered three loan agreements, raising more than $1.3bn (R18.64bn) as the company markets a potential bond.
The company is being provided with $1 billion and R4.8bn ($332 million) from local and international banks and financial institutions, Johannesburg-based MTN said in an e-mailed response to questions on Tuesday.
MTN is on a roadshow in the US and U.K. this week to gauge investor appetite for the sale of debt securities.
“These financing arrangements are in line with the MTN’s funding strategy, which aims to improve its debt maturity structure on an ongoing basis and maintain adequate bank facility headroom to support its credit rating,” the company said.
“MTN’s funding strategy further aims to maintain a balance of operating currency and dollar-denominated debt.”
MTN’s move to attract funding comes after the company reported its first-ever half-year loss in August, partly caused by an agreement to settle a record 330 billion naira ($1 billion) fine in Nigeria.
MTN and its subsidiaries have $3.2bn of debt and interest payments due by the end of July next year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
That includes a $2.75bn bridge-term loan, a R2bn senior unsecured loan and R1.25bn of bonds, the data shows.
No growth
Two loan deals were signed on August 25, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
A facility for $250m matures in 2019 and a $750m agreement closes in 2021, the data show.
In both instances the agent for the facilities was Citigroup’s global markets unit, which was also a joint book runner along with Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The lead arrangers for the credit included units of Barclays Africa Group, Mizuho Bank, Societe Generale and State Bank of India. There were 10 lenders in total, according to the data. They included Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, JPMorgan Chase, Standard Chartered and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking. MTN’s subscriber base of 233 million didn’t grow during the six months through June and the company is struggling to repatriate R15.4bn tied up in its Iranian unit. “The process of repatriating money out of Iran has been more complex than we initially thought, with Iran not having ties with international banks,” MTN’s outgoing Chief Financial Officer Brett Goschen said at the company’s first-half results presentation on August 5. “Every week we are getting a little bit closer, but it will take us at least five to six months to get the money out once we start the first tranche.” MTN hopes to start moving the funds out of Iran during the first half of 2017, according to Goschen. He will leave at the end of the month and a successor has yet to be appointed. “MTN remains confident of its ability to remit monies in the short to medium term, and is currently on a process of putting in place the appropriate governance structures to facilitate the repatriation of funds,” the company said on Tuesday. The shares rose 2.9% to R119 on Tuesday, ending a five-day losing streak and paring losses this year to 10%.
Investors gained N22.2billion at the stock market yesterday as the trading resumed on bullish note after two days holiday. The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index rose by 0.23 per cent to close at 27,642.13, while market capitalisation added N22.2 billion to be at N9.5 trillion.
The performance trimmed the year-to-date decline to 3.49 per cent. The positive close was propelled by price gains recorded by Dangote Cement Plc, Stanbic IBTC, Unilever, Lafarge Africa and Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc among others.
However, Conoil Plc led the overall price gainers’ chart as investors continued to react to the impressive 2015 full year results of the petroleum products marketing firm.
The stock appreciated by 10.1 per cent to close at N26.21 per share, trailed by Unilever Nigeria Plc with 4.9 per cent. Conoil Plc posted a growth of over 176 per cent in profit after tax to N2.308 billion for 2015, up from N834 million in 2014. Based on the improved bottom-line, the directors recommended a dividend of 300 kobo per share, up from 100 kobo in 2014.
Conoil attributed the improved performance to efficient management of resources, effective cost control policy, as well as reaping from its huge investment in the expansion and upgrade of its facilities.
“For us, the downstream sector remains fundamentally attractive and viable today and the future. With our clarity of direction and focus, our company’s long-term success is assured. We will sustain this improved performance and vigorously pursue our aspiration to remain the nation’s leading petroleum products marketer and one of the most profitable quoted companies,” the company said.
Apart from Conoil Plc and Unilver, African Prudential Registrars Plc also gained 4.8 per cent, while Unity Bank Plc and Champion Breweries Plc went up by 2.9 per cent and 2.4 per cent respectively.
In all, 15 stocks appreciated, compared with 19 stocks that depreciated. Diamond Bank Plc led the price losers with 5.8 per cent, followed by Sterling Bank Plc with 4.9 per cent. In terms of sectoral performance, the NSE Industrial Goods Index led with 0.5 per cent, trailed by the NSE Consumer Goods Index with a gain of 0.3 per cent just as the NSE Oil and Gas Index inched up marginally rose 0.01 per cent.
Conversely, the NSE Banking Sector Index closed negative, down 0.7 per cent, while the NSE Insurance Index shed 0.4 per cent.
Conoil Plc, one of the leading petroleum products marketing firm, last week announced its audited results for the year ended December 31, 2015. The results came in late considering the fact its peers have declared their performances for the 2015 and have also released the results for the half year ended June 30, 2016.
No doubt the shareholders of Conoil had waited for a long time to know their fate in terms of dividend. But given the results released by the company last week, the shareholders did not wait in vein. Conoil Plc posted improved bottom-line and recommended a dividend of 300 kobo per share, which is 200 per cent above the 100 kobo paid in 2014.
Corporate profile Conoil Plc (formerly National Oil and Chemical Marketing Plc) was incorporated in 1960 as a private limited liability company. The company was converted to a public company in 1991. In the year 2000, the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) bought 40 per cent issued ordinary shares of the company held by Shell Company of Nigeria (UK) Limited. Following its privatisation, Conpetro Limited acquired 60 per cent of the shares of the company. As a result of a rights offering by the company in 2002, Conpetro Limited now holds 74.4 per cent while members of the Nigerian public hold the remaining 25.6 per cent stake in the company. Conoil Plc has Dr. Mike Adenuga (Jr) as chairman while Mr. Tejbir Singh Sawhney is managing director. Executive directors are: Mr. WasiuAdeyinkaAdebiyi, Mr. Akin Fabunmi and Miss Abimbola Michael – Adenuga. Other directors include: Dr. M. E. Omatsola; BabatundeOkuyemi; Mr. Mike Jituboh and Mr. Ike Oraekwuotu.
Financial results The audited results of the company for 2015 beat the expectation of the market. Although revenue fell by 35.4 per cent to N82.9 billion, from N128.4 billion in 2014, profit after tax soared by 176 per cent to N2.308 billion, from N834 million in 2014.
An analysis of the results showed that apart from the fact Conoil Plc adopted cost containment strategies to improve bottom, other income and foreign exchange gains contributed significantly to the profit.
The company reduced cost of sale from N114.5 billion to N71.4billion, while administrative expenses was reduced from N8.2 billion to N6.8 billion. Cost of finance rose from N2.3billion to N3.8 billion. However, Conoil Plc realised N2.718 billion other income. This is in respect of interest income on delayed subsidy payments represents net interest cost claims received from PPPRA arising from delayed subsidy payments relating to products imported. Similarly, the company realised N2.53 billion from exchange gain.
Consequently, the company ended the year with profit before tax of N3.448 billion, as against N1.532 billion in 2014 and profit after tax of N2.3038 billion, up from N834 million in 2014.
Following this impressive performance, the company has proposed a dividend of N2.08 billion, translating to 300 kobo per share compared with the 100 kobo paid in 2014.
Company’s comments Conoil attributed the improved performance to efficient management of resources, effective cost control policy, as well as reaping from its huge investment in the expansion and upgrade of its facilities.
“For us, the downstream sector remains fundamentally attractive and viable today and the future. With our clarity of direction and focus, our company’s long-term success is assured. We will sustain this improved performance and vigorously pursue our aspiration to remain the nation’s leading petroleum products marketer and one of the most profitable quoted companies,” the company said.
The Chairman of Conoil, Adenuga Jr, had last year assured shareholders that notwithstanding the tough challenges in the country and indeed in the downstream petroleum sector, the company would explore to the fullest, new opportunities that abound in the industry to its advantage and deliver higher returns.
Adenuga also assured investors of the company’s commitment to cost cutting measures in its operations, vast improvement in the quality of its products and services with a strong bottom-line as its focus. “These measures have positively contributed to our successful outing to reward our loyal shareholders,” he said.
Gearing up for challenges Realising the fact that the years ahead portend greater challenges in the downstream petroleum sector and demand pragmatism on the part of the players in the industry, Conoil Plc is gearing up for the anticipated challenges and opportunities.
The company has stepped up investments in the core segments of the downstream business with a view to consolidating its competitive edge and breaking new grounds to further boost its market share. The strategic investment project entails upgrading and construction of facilities in the priority areas, such as retail, lubricants, aviation and specialised products, so as to provide additional capacity that will enable it to meet the long-term needs of its growing business.
According to Conoil, the focus of the initiatives being pursued is to deepen the company’s market penetration and establish new streams of income to further strengthen its competitive edge. Adenuga has consistently expressed the determination to sustain the culture of taking advantage of opportunities in the emerging markets and organising efforts and resources along enduring strategies for top performance. “There is an ongoing review of our business processes to boost commercial, innovation and supply chain efficiencies, to improve focus on growth opportunities and to enhance competencies that will drive accelerated progress,” he said.
Improved depots/facilities Conoil’s state of the art facilities at its depots in Lagos and Port Harcourt give it significant leverage in storage and blending of products, in conformity with the world’s best industry practices. The depots ensure availability and prompt delivery of products and services to customers nationwide.
In Port Harcourt, the company regularly augments its storage capacity for different products to meet the demands of customers in the south-south, south-east and the northern regional markets. This has improved throughput at Port Harcourt and also saved transportation time and cost of moving products from Lagos to these areas. Similarly, a new full-fledged depot in Calabar is well under way, which would have storage tanks for aviation turbine fuel (ATF), automotive gas oil (AGO) and premium motor spirit (PMS). According to the company, the depot would also have hi-tech loading gantries with allied facilities of international standard.
Besides, as part of efforts to boost its bottom-line, Conoil has also repositioned its lubricants business, building two additional oil blending plants in Apapa, Lagos and another one in Port Harcourt, all of which the management said had pushed up its production capacity significantly.
The company also introduced into the market, a new brand of engine oil called Okada Golden Super which is manufactured specially for 4-stroke motorcycles and tricycles.
Conoil also consolidating its stronghold on the aviation fuel marketing business in terms of spread, storage capacity and maintenance support. The company said major airlines plying the Nigerian airspace have been taking full advantage of the unique services.
“Its impressive storage facilities give the company unmatched capacity to meet the needs of local and international customers. The hi-tech bowsers as well as quality product and service delivery, which are of essence in the industry, are some of the reasons the Conoilcontinues to attract the best of clientele in that sector,” the company said.
There have also been increased investments in the retail segment as the company is currently upgrading over 400 filling stations across the country, while plans are on to acquire another 250 stations that would significantly boost its retail network. Apart from the ongoing project of building one mega station in each state capital, it has sustained its special university campus scheme, under which retail outlets are being located on the campuses of designated universities and polytechnics across the country.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has advised states without a Bank of Industry to facilitate the establishment of one in order to speed up industrialisation and other economic development across the country.
The Assistant Director, Development Finance Department of CBN, Abuja, Mr. Babatunde Ogunleye made the call recently in Uyo, AkwaIbom State while responding to questions from newsmen.
He argued that such an institution with the primary mandate to finance the processing of raw materials and industrialisation of the nation is better positioned to help the micro, small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in the country.
Ogunleye expressed dismay that in some states without the establishment of the BoI, citizens are compelled to go extra miles like the nearest state to present proposal or seek assistance from the bank on the financing of projects.
The Assistant Director who was in the state for a public enlightenment of the residents of AkwaIbom on the activities of the CBN declared that, if there is BoI in a state “the speed of doing business will be fast and the cost of doing business will be low.” “You can easily work to the next street where there is BoI, meet the manager, present your proposal and get consider instead of may be going to Calabar or any other nearer states, that is one of the big gains of having B0I,” he stressed.
“Another gain is that, the speed of doing business, especially those who are producing raw materials will quickly get their raw materials evacuated and get paid.
“The bank here will get funded because payment will get to all these banks, all these things will amount to improve and increase standard of living for citizen and government will make money quietly through tax revenue because if business and commerce move everybody is happy.” he added.
Ogunleye maintained that the organised private sector and associations are the right body to partner with government to ensure the BoI is established in their state.
The sensitisation workshop being organised in all the states of the federation was to enlighten members of the public on the activities of the CBN.
The three-day workshop with the theme “Promoting Financial Stability and Economic Development” was attended by farmers, cooperative societies, business entrepreneurs, industrialists, market women, bankers, civil servants and government across the state.
A Senior Manager and Director of Consumer Protection Department of CBN, Sani Bako Mohammed in his presentation, said customers have the right to information, choice, safety, redress, privacy and confidentiality and good service from any bank of choice.
He disclosed that the Consumer Protection Department of the CBN has prosecuted 8,044 complaints out of which 354 complaints were against commercial banks and other financial banks. According to him, the CBN has successfully resolved complaints that involve about N35 billion explaining procedures to the audience on how to lodge complaint and follow-up. A Director in the CBN of the Electronic Banking Payment System Department, Mr. B. I. C. Madunagu briefed the participants of the Clean Note Policy of the Bank and how to handle the naira.
Simplified Corporate Logistics has been launched with the aim of sourcing for foreign exchange for Nigerian businesses involved in export and import.
A statement on Tuesday described SCL as a full-service procurement, shipping, clearing, forwarding and warehousing suite.
The Founder and Chief Executive Officer, SCL, Mr. Nduka Udeh, was quoted to have said at the launch in Lagos, “Nigerian businesses of recent have been hit by a steep hike in the price of ordering, handling and clearing goods from overseas.
He said, “What Simplified Corporate Logistics does is that it removes the risk factor from businesses. We make it our responsibility to source for forex to carry out transactions so our customers only pay in naira.
“Then we guide them through the entire clearing process and handle the documentation on their behalf so that they reduce incurred fines and charges to the barest minimum. Our process is so efficient that we can guarantee clearance of goods within six days.”
According to Udeh, the company can source for the items the customers want from trusted manufacturers globally, and get them at the best prices as it has partnership with several auction companies in the United States.
He said, “Most significantly, we offer a cargo consolidation service that can save our customers up to 70 per cent in freight costs. We believe that these cost and efficiency savings will propel the Nigerian small and medium enterprises into the future.”
According to the statement, Simplified Corporate Logistics tackles the complexity associated with import and export by handling their forex needs to reduce the long processing times needed to access forex, among others.
Joe Mekiliuwa is the General Manager, Operations at the Central Securities Clearing System Plc. He speaks on the prevailing bearish trend in the capital market and the company’s efforts towards achieving 100 per cent dematerialisation of share certificates, in this interview with STANLEY OPARA
The capital market, at the moment, is on a bearish trend. How has this been affecting the operations of the CSCS?
Nigeria is part of the global community. Since the recent global meltdown, the market has been experiencing a bearish trend. Foreign investors took greater part of their investment out of the system. By so doing, it means they had to sell off. To sell off means shares of greater magnitude will be released into the market and it will depress the market accordingly, and the prices of those securities will go down. There will be a significant drop. Arising from that, the local investor, who want to sell, will be selling at a price that is below the cost price. That is a loss already, and many cannot exit from the market because of the current prices of the securities. It has affected our market in the sense that the local investor could not exit, many of the foreign investors have already exited and inflows are no more coming as they used to. A lot happened in 2007 because so many companies came to the market for private placement with the hope that they would list at a higher price because private placement was at a discount and many investors bought into the private placement having received assurance from the companies that they would be listed in due course. Investors were hoping to make gains when the shares were finally listed at higher prices. But by the reason of the crisis, the prices of shares nosedived. These companies couldn’t come to the market any longer because the implication is that they will be selling below the price at the private placement. Many of the companies, till today, have not come into the market. The investors who bought into the private placement cannot exit the market because it is at the point of listing that they can exit. Many of these investors are caught up in this problem till today.
Are you saying there is no respite for such investors?
Investors can only exit in the secondary market, which will be after listing of the companies on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. But the only window that could be looked at then was the Over-the-Counter market, where brokers could meet independently on behalf of their clients to buy or sell securities. But this has not really worked as the investors have yet to exit the market. A lot of efforts have been made by the NSE, Securities and Exchange Commission, the CSCS and other capital market players to encourage investors to come to the market to continue the normal business of buying and selling. But the situation where somebody borrowed a large sum of money to purchase shares, some sold their properties to raise money to buy shares with the hope that the margin would be good. But till today, they are caught up. If a company is not listed, how can you exit? The window for exit is very narrow because they are not listed, and that is a big issue.
Part of the experiences we had at that time was margin lending. After the recapitalisation of the banks, they had so much money and were virtually begging investors to come and take money to buy shares. Many investors made a lot of money legitimately from this. All these happened before the global financial crisis. Because of the gains, many investors went back to the banks to get more loans as the banks continued to bombard investors. Many investors took massive loans from the banks then. In some cases, there was no collateral or insufficient collateral. When the market finally went down, the banks pushed in the shares into the market to sell off in order to mitigate losses. This eventually flooded the market and caused price crash.
The CSCS had said it was targeting the first quarter of this year to achieve 100 per cent dematerialisation of share certificates in the system. What has become of this aspiration?
The mandate given by SEC to capital market stakeholders is that we must achieve 100 per cent dematerialisation. We are hoping to achieve 100 per cent dematerialisation of share certificates by the end of 2016 third quarter (September). Currently, over 98.4 per cent of shares certificates of quoted companies on the NSE are dematerialised in the CSCS depository. For the sake of clarity, dematerialisation is the availability of shares certificates of quoted firms on the Exchange in electronic format. The CSCS is working assiduously with registrars to ensure that full dematerialisation is achieved as targeted. Efforts are geared towards assisting the relevant registrars to ensure that the remaining, although seemingly infinitesimal, are firmly attended to so as to achieve 100 per cent success rate before the end of Q3 2016. In order to address various problems associated with share certificates such as delay in issuance, verification, loss, theft, and forgeries, among others, SEC, in partnership with other stakeholders, resolved to eliminate these problems by opting for the full dematerialisation of share certificates. The full dematerialisation move is aimed at completely eliminating existing physical share certificates in the Nigerian capital market and putting to an end the issuance of new share certificates. The registrars of companies, who are involved in the implementation process, are required by SEC to turn in the registers of all companies they manage to the CSCS depository within a given period of time. For the shares to be accessed by the shareholders in their accounts under a stockbroking firms, shareholders are required to instruct their registrars, through their brokers, to migrate such shares to their accounts with the stockbroking firms. Consequently, shareholders are urged to approach the stockbroking firms of choice, obtain and fill in a migration form which will be forwarded to the registrar to enable them to advise the CSCS to migrate the shares to the shareholder’s account with the stockbroking firm and the shares are migrated by the CSCS as advised. With reinforced commitment and determination at the commencement of the dematerialisation exercise in June 2015, it has yielded significant success as incidences of forgery, theft and loss of share certificates have drastically reduced.
Other benefits which full dematerialisation would bring to the market include immediate availability of the shares for trading as soon as mandate is given to the brokers, enhancement of price discovery and deepening of the market, possibility for securities lending and borrowing by shareholders for more income.
The very small amount of share certificates not dematerialised is a result of the inability of some registrars to meet their recapitalisation deadline. Some were acquired by bigger firms or merged with others, while others have discontinued that line of business. That means the register they manage will be handed over to a new registrar. That implies that the new registrar that will be taking over will do some reconciliation. The former registrar may not be fully automated, and this will affect the extent of the continuation. If they are manually driven or partially driven by information technology, the implication is that a lot of manual work will be done. The new registrar will have a lot to do to reconcile the new accounts at the client and the company levels before updating their new register. For the small segment remaining, the new registrars may be having one or two issues. However, we are working with them; hence the success recorded thus far. There was a time when our level of success was below the current level, and we had to invite the registrars to a meeting to guide them on the best ways to solve the problem and make the required progress.
Is there a deadline for the registrars in this respect?
SEC is currently checking the registers and working with the registrars to ensure that the registers are in their required form. We at the CSCS are also playing our roles also. For the new phase, there is no new deadline, but we are saying that the process should not exceed this year; but we will be done before the year ends
