Entrepreneurs in the south-eastern part of the country have been enjoined to work towards getting their companies quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to ensure that they outlive their founders.
Chairman of Cutix Cables Plc, Dr. Okechukwu Mbonu, made the call during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the company in Nnewi, Anambra State.
Mbonu, also said there were gains in individuals taking advantage of the opportunities available in the financial market, through purchase of shares.
He said getting listed on the stock market was good for survival and longevity of companies while investing could yield huge financial benefits for the individual. The chairman said it was unfortunate that not much of the companies in the south-east were listed on the Exchange, saying this was responsible for the low individual investors in shares.
“The question is: how many privately owned companies in the south-east are listed on the stock exchange? Not many of them in this part of the country.
“People must begin to understand the benefit and value they can derive from investing in the financial market, that is why you see companies going to money market and individuals investing in stocks.
“The south-west is ahead in terms of investment and share ownership because of number of listed companies there and they know the value, but it is a gradual process.
“We urge you, the media to help us educate people from this part of the country on the immense benefit of not only investing in stock market but also taking your company to the financial market,” he said.
The event witnessed a change of baton in the office of the Chief Executive Officer of the company as Mr Ifeanyi Uzodike, handed over to Barr Mr Ijeoma Oduonye.
The AGM was hugely attended by shareholders of the company, and also witnessed the election of new directors into the company.
The Nigerian equities market opened the week on a bullish note as investors continued to react positively to nine month corporate earnings being released by companies.
Gains by 17 stocks, including market leader, Dangote Cement Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, lifted the market capitalisation by N105 billion to N12.119 trillion.
The NSE All-Share Index appreciated by 0.88 per cent to close higher at 33,196.07, thus moderating the year-to-date decline to 13.2 per cent. Although the market recorded 17 price gainers and losers apiece, bellwethers among the price gainers influenced the positive close for the day.
However, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc led the price gainers with 10 per cent, trailed by LASACO Assurance Plc with 6.6 per cent. Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc chalked up 6.5 per cent, while WAPIC Insurance Plc garnered 4.7 per cent.
Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc last week reported a jump of 54 per cent and 59 per cent in profit before tax (PBT) and profit after tax (PAT) respectively for the nine months ended September 30, 2018. Specifically, PBT increased to N70.380 billion, from N45.650 billion, while PAT grew faster from N37.672 to N59.75 billion.
Market operators said the price gain posted by Stanbic IBTC showed investors’ bullish response to the positive results.
Similarly, GTBank Plc appreciated by 4.0 per cent, just as Transcorp Plc, Honeywell Flour Mills Plc and Sterling Bank Plc garnered 3.9 per cent, 3.4 per cent and 3.3 per cent in that order.
Forte Oil Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and United Bank for Africa Plc were also among the price gainers, rising by 2.8 per cent, 1.8 per cent and 1.2 per cent respectively.
Conversely, Unity Bank Plc led the price losers with 10 per cent, trailed by Diamond Bank Plc with 9.7 per cent. Royal Exchange Plc shed 9.0 per cent, just as AIICO Insurance Plc and Meyer Plc went down by 8.8 per cent each.
Meanwhile, activity level was mixed as volume traded fell by 46.3 per cent to 150.0 million shares m units while value traded rose 46.7 per cent to N2.9 billion indicating investors’ interest in bellwethers. Zenith Bank Plc (28.4 million shares), GTBank (28.3 million shares) and FCMB Holdings Plc (15.4 million shares) were the top traded stocks by volume while GTBank (N1.1 billion), Zenith Bank(N0.7 billion) and Dangote Cement (N0.5 billion) led by value.
The Central Securities Clearing System Nigeria Plc has completed an innovative pilot scheme that will allow cross-border data exchange in Africa.
The CSCS, in a statement on Thursday, said the scheme was an innovation of Tata Consultancy Services aimed to create a pan-African ecosystem using the quartz blockchain technology.
It said the innovation was in partnership with the Central Securities Depository of Nigeria and South Africa-based Standard Bank.
According to the statement, the blockchain ecosystem, consisting of the TCS BaNCS network with blockchain nodes for CSCS Nigeria and Standard Bank South Africa, is set up using TCS’ quartz blockchain solution in a coexistent architecture.
It said the power of blockchain was leveraged to enable the exchange of corporate action information on a real-time basis for a wide range of equities and fixed-income instruments over the BaNCS Network.
The Chief Executive Officer, CSCS Nigeria Plc, Haruna Jalo-Waziri, described blockchain as a representation of a unique opportunity for early adopters interested in transforming their businesses and industries.
He said the CSCS was excited to have worked together with TCS BaNCS and Quartz Solutions on the innovative pilot programme that had the potential of generating efficiencies in the financial markets.
Jalo-Waziri said, “This is a significant step towards our vision of being the globally respected and leading central securities depository in the region. Our next steps are to continue exploring ways in which the CSCS can harness the capabilities of blockchain technology in other area of our core operations and extend it to other market participants in the region.”
The Head, Investor Services and Financial Institutions, Standard Bank Group, Charl Bruyns, said the bank was excited to be part of the project that had conclusively demonstrated the ability of Quartz Blockchain to support seamless information exchange between capital market participants.
He stated that he was particularly proud of the TCS BaNCS solution that the bank used to connect to Quartz Blockchain, adding that the innovation enabled the bank to complete the pilot in record time.
The market capitalisation of equities listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange rose above the N12tn mark at the end of trading on Tuesday.
The market capitalisation, which had earlier dropped below N12tn in August, gained N83.5bn to close at N12.117tn on Tuesday from N12.033tn on Monday as 185.192 million stocks valued at N2.35bn exchanged hands in 3,180 deals.
Fourteen gainers beat 19 losers as the All Share Index increased by 0.69 per cent to settle at 33,191.45 basis points.
Activity level weakened as volume and value traded dropped by 39.3 per cent and 110.6 per cent, respectively, while the year-to-date loss moderated at 13 per cent.
The top traded stocks by volume were First City Monument Bank Plc (27.551 million units), Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (24.871 million units) and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (15.179 million units), while the top traded stocks by value were GTB (N553.9m), Access Bank Plc (N118.75m) and United Bank for Africa Plc (N115.60m).
Three out of five indices closed positively, with the industrial goods advancing the most by 0.9 per cent on the back of gains in Dangote Cement Plc.
The consumer goods followed, rising by 0.2 per cent on the back of gains in Nestle Nigeria Plc and Dangote Flour Mills Plc; while the oil and gas index rose by 0.1 per cent on the back of gains in Oando Plc.
On the flip side, the insurance index declined by 0.7 per cent due to losses in Niger Insurance Plc and NEM Insurance Plc, while the banking index shed 0.6 per cent on account of sell-offs in Ecobank Transnational Incorporated and UBA.
The top five gainers were Transcorp, Honeywell Flour Mills Plc, FBN Holdings Plc, Wema Bank Plc and Diamond Bank Plc, whose share prices increased by 9.60 per cent, 4.35 per cent, 4.32 per cent, 3.33 per cent and 3.25 per cent, respectively.
The top five losers were First Aluminium Nigeria Plc, PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc, Mcnichols Plc, Niger Insurance and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, whose share prices dropped by 9.09 per cent, 7.66 per cent, 7.41 per cent, 7.14 per cent and 5.04 per cent, respectively.
Wema Bank Plc has posted improved bottom-line for the nine months ended September 30, 2018, helped by a significant growth in trading income.
The results released last Friday showed net interest income of N15.349 billion, up from N11.976 billion in the corresponding period of 2017. Net fee and commission income fell slightly from N5.551 billion to N5.421 billion in 2018. However, trading income soared from 166 per cent to N4.276 billion, from N1.603 billion.
This boosted the operating income to N25.448 billion, compared with N20.068 billion. But personnel expenses rose from N7.844 billion to N8.564billion, while other expenses jumped from N8.644 billion to N11.864 billion.
Hence, Wema Bank Plc ended the nine months with profit before tax of N3.057 billion, showing an increase of 69 per cent above the N1.799 billion recorded in 2017. Similarly, profit after tax rose 72 per cent to N2.644 billion, compared with N1.529 billion in the corresponding period of 2017. The lender recorded earnings per shares of 9.2 kobo, up from 5.3 kobo in 2017.
Wema Bank Plc recently disclosed that it planned to raise up to N20 billion senior unsecured bond in Series 2 of its bond issuance progamme.
According to the bank, the new issuance followed a successful establishment of N50 billion Bond Issuance Programme.
It explained that the series 2 of the bond is to be issued for a tenor of 5-7 years and the target market is the institutional investors. It added that the proceeds of the bond are intended to boost its working capital and meets its financing needs. The bank had raised N6.2 billion in its first tranche of the N50 billion debt programme.
Also, the bank recently confirmed Mr. Ademola Adebise as managing director/chief executive officer(MD/CEO), effective October 1, while Mr. Moruf Oseni has been named deputy managing director.
Adebisi was appointed the acting MD/CEO in July when the former MD/CEO, Mr. Segun Oloketuyi proceeded on terminal leave in July 2018.
He has been part of the bank’s executive management team since the transformation programme began in 2009 and has played a pivotal role in the execution of the strategic turnaround programme for the bank.
According to bank, “Adebise has over 28 years’ experience in the banking industry (inclusive of four years in management consulting), and has worked in various capacities in information technology, financial control & strategic planning, treasury, corporate banking, risk management and performance management.”
The volume of trading at the stock market soared by 624 per cent yesterday as investors traded 662.021 million valued at N5.312 billion, up from 91.4 million shares worth N960.9 million the first day of the week.
Also, recovery in share prices of bellwether tickers lifted the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index by 0.95 per cent to close at 32,722.18, compared with a decline of 0.14 per cent the previous day. Notably, gains by Dangote Cement Plc, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Unilever Nigeria Plc and Zenith Bank Plc propelled the positive close.
According market operators, there were further selloffs on banking tickers as investors continued to book profit.
“These was however offset by the recovery by the heavily weighted stocks in the consumer goods sector and Dangote Cement, which gained 2.50 per cent,” they said.
However, UACN Property Development Plc led the price gainers with 9.9 per cent, trailed by Cutix Plc with 9.7 per cent. Unilever Nigeria Plc and FBN Holdings Plc garnered 5.5 per cent and 3.3 per cent apiece. Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Nigerian Breweries Plc and Dangote Cement Plc chalked up 3.1 per cent, 3.1 per cent and 2.5 per cent in that order.
Conversely, Beta Glass Plc led the bears, shedding 10 per cent, trailed by Julius Berger Nigeria Plc with 9.8 per cent. Niger Insurance Plc shed 9.0 per cent, just as Japaul Oil & Maritime Services Plc and Universal Insurance Plc went down by 8.7 per cent each.
An analysis of the activity chart showed that GTBank recorded the highest trading in volume terms with 41.8 million shares, followed by Fidelity Bank Plc (20.3 million shares0 and Zenith Bank Plc (17.3 million shares), while Seplat (N2.2 billion), GTBank (N1.5 billion) and Dangote Cement (N0.4 billion) led in value terms.
Meanwhile, three out of five sectors closed positively, led by the NSE Consumer Goods Index with 1.2 per cent. This followed buying interest in Nigerian Breweries Plc and Unilever Nigeria Plc. Similarly, price appreciation in Dangote Cement Plc, Zenith Bank Plc , UBA and Union Bank of Nigeria Plc drove the NSE Industrial Goods Index and NSE Banking Index by 0.2 per cent and 0.1 per cent higher respectively.
Conversely, the NSE Oil & Gas Index and NSE Insurance Index declined 1.3 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively.
The stock market declined by marginal 0.02 per cent wednesday despite higher number of price gainers. Although a total of 24 stocks appreciated, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index declined by 0.02 per cent to close at 32,375.12. Market capitalisation shed N2.1 billion to close lower at N11.8 trillion. Profit taking in International Breweries Plc, FBN Holding Plc and United Bank for Africa Plc led to the decline in the index.
However, Forte Oil Plc led the price gainers with 10 per cent, trailed by Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Plc by 9.7 per cent. Regency Alliance Insurance Plc and
Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc appreciated by 9.09 each.
Prestige Assurance plc went up by 8.7 per cent, just Union Diagnostic & Clinical Services Plc garnered 8.5 per cent.
Other top price gainers included Linkage Assurance Plc (8.4 per cent); Union Bank of Nigeria Plc (6.4 per cent); AIICO Insurance Plc (6.2 per cent) and Skye Bank Plc (6.06 per cent).
The shares of Forte Oil Plc has attracted high demand lately. The petroleum product marketing firm had ended half year to June 30, 2018 with an impressive performance.
Profit after tax from continuing and discontinued operations increased by 93 per cent to N 7.9 billion compared to N4.11 billion recorded in 2017. Earnings per share grew by 47 per cent to N1.54 compared to N1.05 recorded for the same period in 2017, while total assets improved by four per cent to N153 billion, up from N147 billion recorded for the same period in H1 2017.
According to the company, the first half of 2018 witnessed a more stable operating environment with higher oil prices, foreign exchange availability and improved petroleum product supply across the country.
“As a company, we commenced our strategic plans and initiatives to re-examine our business model and optimizing our balance sheet through asset disposal and expansion of our downstream operations in Nigeria. In May 2018, we obtained the approval of the board and shareholders at the 39th annual general meeting to pursue our divestment initiatives and the company commenced the process to divest its interest in Power, Upstream Services and Marketing in Ghana (APOG). As at 30 June 2018, these subsidiaries were classified as disposal groups held for sale and as discontinued operations,” it said.
The company explained that despite the operational challenges and discontinued operations, the company recorded 32 per cent growth in revenues, translating to N61.8 billion, compared to N46.7 billion in H1, 2017 as a result of improved product supplies. While administrative expenses reduced by nine from N3.82 billion recorded in 2017 to N3.48 billion in 2018.
Nigeria’s total domestic and foreign debt stock stood at N15.63 trillion and $22.08 billion respectively, as at June 30, 2018, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has stated.
According to the Nigerian Domestic and Foreign Debt (Q2 2018), which was posted on its website, of the total domestic debt, borrowing by states represented N3.48 trillion, of which Lagos accounted for 14.88 per cent of the total domestic debt, while Anambra had the least debt in the category with a contribution 0.08 per cent to the total domestic debt stock.
However, the foreign borrowing consisted of $10.88 billion from multilateral agencies; $274.98 million from bilateral (AFD) and another $2.12 billion bilateral from the Exim Bank of China, JICA, India and KFW, while $8.80 billion was commercial.
Lagos State had the highest foreign debt profile among the 36 states and the FCT accounting for 34.17 per cent.
Edo accounted for 6.57 per cent of external loans; Kaduna, 5.48 per cent; Cross River, 4.56 per cent and Bauchi, 3.18 per cent.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has said that it will soon come out with regulations that will guide technology-driven products in the capital market. The Acting Director General of SEC, Ms. Mary Uduk during a presentation by Vice President, FinTech Association of Nigeria, Mr. Ade Bajomo, titled: “Market Impact of the FinTech Revolution” in Abuja wednesday.
Uduk, who also announced Bajomo as Chair of the Capital Market Committee on Fintech Roadmap for Capital Markets in Nigeria, said the SEC as the apex regulator of the Nigerian capital market is interested in investments that Nigerians are making especially with the advent of digitalisation.
“If we will regulate this market and understand what is happening, we need our staff to understand the rudiments of FinTech. Very soon the whole world will move to technology for regulation. Other jurisdictions have already gone far into it with some of them already amending their rules in that direction. The International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) is on it and there is a lot on it already all over the world and we can’t be left behind. We are very much interested in some of the most active areas of Fintech innovation like block chain technology, crypto currencies and how they affect investors,” Uduk said.
According her, as regulators of the capital market, it is the responsibility of the SEC to find out how such investments are going on and if they meet set standards because when investors lose money they will come back to the SEC.
“That is why we are seeking to understand what FinTech is all about to enable us regulate the market properly,” she stated.
The DG noted that during the last Capital Market Committee meeting in Lagos, the Committee agreed to set up a Committee to draw a Fintech Adoption roadmap for the Capital Market.
Uduk alluded to the growing influence of Fintechs, saying that there is the need for the capital market to take advantage of the Fintech offerings in moving the capital market forward.
She equally emphasised the focus of the commission on capacity building, knowledge sharing, advocacy and collaboration with relevant entities.
“The capital market needs to create an enabling environment that is attractive enough for FinTechs to innovate as the Market should engage actively with the new trend in technology and provide the adequate regulatory framework for proper adoption of suitable technology and that is one of the reasons why we have invited FinTech here today for this presentation,” she said. Attachments area
The stock market wednesday recorded its biggest daily loss in the last eight months following continued sell-offs in big counters.
Specifically, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index went down by 3.46 per cent to close at 32,292.79, while market capitalisation shed N422.2 billion to close N11.8 trillion. Consequently, the year-to-date decline worsened to 15.6 per cent.
According to analysts at Meristem Securities Limited said significant selloffs on top counters across all sectors today dragged market performance.
“Weak investor sentiment was adequately captured by a poor market breadth of 0.30x, as investors flee the Nigerian bourse. We do not expect a deviation from this trend in the remaining trading days this week, implying a negative close to the market this week,” they said.
A total of 37 stocks declined compared with only 10 that appreciated. The price losers were dominated by heavy weights such as Dangote Cement Plc, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, FBN Holdings Plc and Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc.
However, Universal Insurance Plc led the price losers with 10 per cent, trailed by Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Plc with 9.8 per cent. On the positive side, Law Union & Rock Insurance Plc led the price gainers with 9.0 per cent, followed by Skye Bank Plc with 8.9 per cent.
From every indication, investors are ignoring strong fundamentals of some of the stocks and continued to exit due to their apprehension over the current political situation.
Analysts at Afrinvest (W.A) have made some stocks in the banking, consumer goods and industrial goods sectors to be attractive. In the banking sector, for instance, the said United Bank for Africa Plc has upside potential of 56 per cent and Zenith Bank Plc 52 per cent. GTBank Plc has 27 per cent growth potential, while Access Bank Plc has 11.3 per cent.
In consumer goods sector, the analysts said UAC of Nigeria Plc has upside potential of 122 per cent; Nigerian Breweries Plc has the potential to gain 60 per cent; PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc 48.5 per cent and Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc 29.9 per cent. In the industrial goods sector, Lafarge Africa Plc can rise by 158 per cent and Dangote Cement Plc 28.5 per cent.
According to them, while risk factors remain on the horizon, they are optimistic of an impending bullish streak in the market as equities near trough points.
“We advise investors to be on standby as we perceive the turning point imminent whilst echoing our long-term focus on fundamentally sound stocks with attractive entry prices and prospects of, at least, double digit upside potential,” they stressed.
