The Federal Government on Monday said it would encourage state governments to raise long-term funds from the capital market to finance capital projects.
It said rather than the states looking at the banking sector to raise funds, the capital market would be assisted to play its role in economic development.
The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, stated these at a meeting with stakeholders in the market, led by the Chairman, Capital Market Master Plan Council, Mr. Olutola Mobolurin.
Adeosun said the assistance to be given to the state governments in raising funds from the capital market had been captured in the Fiscal Restructuring Plan, which was already approved by the National Economic Council.
She said, “There is a very aggressive plan to develop housing; the capital market is sitting at the root of financing the sector and we have to find a way to unlock it
“We need to create the instruments; we need to de-risk certain sectors; we need to look at procedures. At the moment, we are working on the fiscal sustainability plan and one of the things that we are saying to the state governments is that we want to take you away from the banks.
“The capital market should be your natural source of funding for your long-term projects.”
The minister lamented that currently, a lot of people had yet to understand the capital market and what it could do for the development of the country.
“There is a lot to be done on your part around literacy, awareness and stakeholder engagement at every level, especially at the political level, because I am not sure every minister truly understands what the capital market means for his portfolio,” she noted.
Mobolurin said the visit was to seek the support of the minister in driving the Capital Market Master Plan (2015-2025).
He explained that the capital market was usually neglected and had not found the right attention in the government.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange recorded a loss of N45bn in its market capitalisation on Monday after the shares of 22 firms depreciated in value.
The NSE All-Share Index dropped points at week open, shedding 0.47 per cent amid mixed performances in key sectors.
The market capitalisation slid to N9.308tn from N9.353tn, while the NSE ASI fell to 27,103.38 basis points from 27,232.62 basis points at the close of trading on the Exchange’s floor.
A total of 152.329 shares worth N2.290bn exchanged hands in 3,406 deals. In all, only 15 stocks appreciated in value.
Unity Bank Plc, Oando Plc, Honeywell Flour Mill Plc, Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank Plc and Lafarge Africa Plc emerged as top five losers.
Unity Bank shares dropped by N0.07 (5.83 per cent) to close at N1.13 from N1.20, while those of Oando slid to N6.65 from N7, shedding N0.35 (five per cent).
Honeywell Flour Mill share price also recorded a loss of N0.08 (4.62 per cent) to close at N1.65 from N1.73, while that of Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank closed at N1.47 from N1.54, losing N0.07 (4.55 per cent).
Other losers were May & Baker Nigeria Plc, Continental Reinsurance Plc, Berger Paints Plc, Nestle Nigeria Plc, Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Africa Prudential Registrars Plc, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Axa Mansard Insurance Plc, International Breweries Plc, AIICO Insurance Plc, Tiger Branded Consumer Goods Plc, Fidson Healthcare Plc, Skye Bank Plc, Dangote Cement Plc, among others.
On the other hand, Champion Breweries Plc, Diamond Bank Plc, Access Bank Plc, NEM Insurance Company Nigeria Plc and Unilever Nigeria Plc emerged as the top five gainers.
The shares of Champion Breweries appreciated by N0.16 (5.90 per cent) to close at N2.87 from N2.71, while those of Diamond Bank went up by N0.12 (5.66 per cent) to close at N2.24 from N2.12.
Market analysts said the capital market was unlikely going to see advancements in the performance of indices this week owing majorly to the continued delay by the Central Bank of Nigeria in developing the new foreign exchange framework for the country.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange was unable to shake the previous week’s negative mood particularly as a result of this inaction.
Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) has targeted a Non-Performing Loan (NPL) ratio of 7.5 per cent in the current financial year, against 8.2 per cent achieved in previous year.
The pan-African bank, as part of its commitment to improve on quality of its loan book and refrain from riskier assets, according to the Group Managing Director of the bank, Ade Ayeyemi, has also concluded plans to focus on return on equity rather than cost, after first three months’ profit after tax dropped by 35 per cent.
The Group Managing Director of the conglomerate. Ade Ayeyemi, who stated these while addressing shareholders during the ‘Facts Behind the Figures’ of the bank on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) at the weekend, explained that the group recorded a decline of 35 per cent in profit after tax from $126 million in the first quarter of 2015 to $82 million in during the corresponding period of this year.
He attributed the decline to high rates and inflation in some Middle African countries, the devaluation of dollar risk; and Treasury Single Account (TSA) reforms in Nigeria, among others.
He, however, expressed optimism that despite the bank’s low performance in some financial indices last year, it is currently well positioned to generate high returns to meet shareholders’ expectations.
“Shareholders of the financial institution are not expected to be delighted about the growing NPL but it is important not to hide to fact in order to recognize where there are problems. Our target at the end of the year is 75 per cent.
“The business environment can be challenging but there are opportunities. The value of mobile phone transactions in Nigeria has been demonstrated and if we can connect that into banking; it means there are a lot we can make,” Ayeyemi said.
He explained that the group NPL has risen to $1 billion in first three months of 2016 from $967 million in fourth quarter of 2015, while its NPL coverage stood at 71.3 per cent in first three months of 2016 as against 67.9 per cent in fourth quarter of 2015.
According to him, the group would sustain a stronger Return on Equity (ROE) to shareholders as it grow to 12.8 per cent in first three months of 2016 from 4.2 per cent in fourth quarter of 2015
The capital market is unlikely to see advancements in the performances of indices this week owing majorly to the continued delay by the Central Bank of Nigeria in developing the new foreign exchange framework for the country, analysts have said.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange was unable to shake the previous week’s negative mood particularly as a result of this inaction. Consequently, the NSE All-Share Index pared on four out of five trading days to accumulate a week-on-week loss of 1.45 per cent.
This performance pegged the year-to-date return of the index at -4.92 per cent. Volume and value of transactions during the week waned by 24.02 per cent and 32.05 per cent in the same order.
The market saw 27 advancers and 42 decliners, of which the advancers’ chart featured Unity Bank Plc, NEM Insurance Company Nigeria Plc, Union Dicon Salt Plc, Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc and OAndo Plc with respective week-on-week gains of 30.43 per cent, 24.68 per cent, 15.69 per cent, 13.92 per cent and 13.64 per cent.
The decliners’ chart was populated by Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Airline Services and Logistics Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc and Union Bank of Nigeria Plc with the highest week-on-week declines of 9.71 per cent, 9.38 per cent, 9.11 per cent, 8.95 per cent and 8.59 per cent, respectively.
To this end, analysts at Meristem Securities Limited, said, “We opine that the continuous drag in the performance of the equities market was further impacted by negative news flow that permeated the market, including the cut (-3.8 per cent) in the 2016 economic growth outlook for Nigeria by the World Bank to 0.8 per cent.
“Also, the Niger Delta Avengers continued with its oil pipeline bombings, thereby disrupting production activities of oil companies and heightening skepticism about the near-term resurgence of the economy.
“We do not anticipate a significant recovery at the equities market this week, considering the dearth of positive news. However, we expect some bargain hunting activities within sectors that have recorded substantial price declines during the week ended.”
Demand for the Nigerian Bond instruments opened the week frail, as offer yields advanced across most instruments. However, a late increase in appetite resulted in a marginal increase (+0.38 per cent week-on-week) in average offer yield to peg at 12.89 per cent.
The domestic currency remained stable at a mid-price of N198.89 against the United States dollar, similarly the naira closed the week at N370/dollar at the parallel market.
“We opine that the hike in rates is not unrelated to the relatively low financial market liquidity, coupled with investors’ anticipation of more attractive rate at the CBN’s Open Market Operations auctions considering the Federal government’s borrowing needs. This, we believe is also related to the bearish demand for the Nigerian Treasury bills and bond instruments,” the Meristem analysts added.
In the firm’s weekly report, analysts at Vetiva Capital Management Limited, said, “With overall market sentiment still appearing weak, we see chances of a bearish start for this week.
“In the fixed income market, yields are likely to inch higher ahead of the release of May inflation data which is expected to be significantly higher (Bloomberg consensus: 14.7 per cent).”
The Meristem analysts are, however, upbeat about the agricultural sector’s ability to yield positive returns for investors, based on expectations of continued support to the sector from the government. Albeit, they advise that investment decisions should be grounded in evaluation of company fundamentals.
They added, “Much in line with expectations, the banking sector closed negative last week, as news regarding the new forex management framework was not forthcoming. We expect the same trend over the coming week, baring positive news regarding the aforementioned framework.
“We attribute the negative mood that pervaded the consumer goods sector in most trading days of last week to the general market mood. Therefore, we do not anticipate a significant change from the current trend this week, considering the dearth of positive news and market moving information to steer a sustainable rally.
“Considering that investors negative mood have persisted on the health sector counters in the past four consecutive weeks, amid some weeks of general market gyration, we advise investors with medium to long term investment horizon to consider only stocks with strong fundamentals that are currently not trading at their fundamentally justified levels.
“We expect the sentiments in the market and insurance sector to remain downbeat this week, as investors’ await the flexible forex policy modalities from the apex bank.
“For the industrial goods sector, we believe the country’s weakening economic fundamentals as evidenced by the rising inflation, lower crude oil production levels and output contraction, have all contributed to the prevailing investor apathy for the equities market generally. However, we expect to see some respite in the sector when the dividend of 2016 budget spending starts trickling.”
For the oil and gas sector, they anticipate an upbeat performance from specific sector counters in the new week, given the current trading prices of some sector stocks; while for the services sector, they said profit taking activities witnessed in the prior week persisted during the week concluded, after weeks of substantial price appreciation.
“This week, we advise investors to take position in counters perceived to be trading below their fundamentally justified prices,” the analysts said.
Global markets traded mostly in positive territory for the first two sessions of the past week, following sustained uptick in oil prices, a positive European data (GDP grew 1.7 per cent year-on–year in Q1 2016).
The harsh economic conditions facing the country have led to a drastic reduction in customers’ deposits in banks with the industry recording a decline of about N1.03tn in total deposit, IFEANYI ONUBA reports
The Bankers Committee has sent a proposal to the Central Bank of Nigeria to limit across-the-counter withdrawals to N10,000, following a major drop in customers’ deposit.
The proposal, according to a reliable source, is being considered by the apex bank through the Banking and Payment Systems Department.
A document obtained by our correspondent from the Central Bank of Nigeria on Friday showed that between April 2015 and April 2016, the total deposits of bank customers with the Deposit Money Banks dropped by 5.6 per cent or N1.03tn from N18.54tn to N17.51tn.
The banking sector also recorded a decline of N154bn in total assets within the one year period, from N27.58tn in April 2015 to N27.43tn as of April 2016.
In the same vein, the industry’s gross credit to the private and public sector dipped by N41bn or 0.3 per cent from the April 2015 value of N13.4tn to N13.36tn in April 2016.
According to the document, the Non-Performing Loans ratio for the sector currently stands at 10.1 per cent, which is far above the prudential limit of five per cent.
It attributed the sudden rise in the NPLs to the outcome of the Risk Assets Examination of the DMB, which was conducted by the apex bank in December 2015.
Specifically, the apex bank in the document explained that the sustained low price of crude oil, supply constraints at the foreign exchange market as well as other macroeconomic conditions impacted negatively on the quality of bank loans.
The document said, “The Capital Adequacy Ratio of the banking industry, which was still above the prudential minimum of 10 per cent and 15 per cent for banks with national and international authorisation, respectively as of April 2016 stood at 16.5 per cent compared with 17 per cent as of April 2015.
The CAR deteriorated between April 2015 and April 2016 due to the decline in the total qualifying capital caused by regulatory deductions, retirement of Tier 11 capital, impairment and increase in the total risk-weighted assets.
“The NPLs ratio stood at 10.1 per cent as of April 2016, which was well above the prudential limit of five per cent. The sustained low price of crude oil, supply constraints at the forex market as well as other macroeconomic conditions impacted negatively on the quality of bank loans.”
In terms of liquidity, the CBN in the document explained that the industry was operating above the minimum requirement of 30 per cent.
For instance, it said as of April 2016, the banking sector’s liquidity ratio stood at 46.3 per cent as against 39.79 per cent as of April 2015.
It said the sector also recorded a decline in earnings within the period as unaudited profit before tax for the industry decreased by 10.8 per cent (N24bn) from N222bn in April 2015 to N198bn at the end of April this year.
It added, “The return on assets and return on equity were 2.17 and 16.17 per cent in February 2016 compared with 2.42 per cent and 19.39 per cent in the corresponding period of 2015.
“The decline was driven largely by the decrease in both interest and non-interest income, which declined by six per cent or N50bn and 54 per cent or N259bn, respectively.”
Commenting on the drop in banks’ earnings within the period, a former Managing Director, Unity Bank Plc, Mr. Rislanudeeen Muhammed, told our correspondent in a telephone interview on Sunday that the time had come for banks to refocus their operations in line with their primary mandate.
He attributed the decline in banks’ profit to a mismatch between cost and income.
He said, “There has been a mismatch between cost and incomes. Most of the costs of operations of the sector have gone up because there are two major income lines that have actually dropped.
“The first one is the TSA, which had adversely affected their income line and capacity to create risk assets and the withdrawal of Commission on Turnover charges.
“The economy is also not doing well as it is virtually almost in recession. So definitely, that is why you are seeing some of the actions of the banks such as reduction of branches and sacking of workers happening.”
He added, “If you also check the NPLS, it has also gone up because pet banks have given out a lot of money to oil and gas sector and most of those banks that have lent to oil and gas sector have no option to make provisions for those loans.”
When asked what the banks could do now to increase their profitability in view of the current economic challenges, Muhammed, who is also the Managing Director, Safmur Investment Ltd, said, “The banks need to appreciate the reality of where they are now. They need to begin to operate as banks because hitherto, there had been what I called arms-chair lazy banking. A worker could generate deposits and be promoted, forgetting that most of the employees don’t have a good understanding of the banking system.
“Now is the opportunity for real banking to emerge rather than the liability generation banking that we currently have.”
The CBN, in the document, explained that the banking sector was still faced with a lot of pressure points, some of which it listed as resurgence of inflationary pressures in the face of negative output growth; continuing low oil prices; and lack of fiscal buffers.
Others are capital flow reversals; rising pressure on exchange rate in the face of declining external reserves; huge growth in credit to the government to compensate for declining oil receipts.
According to the document, the bank is faced with policy challenges in the areas of stimulating output growth even with high rates of lending and inflation; and ensuring flow of credit to the real sector of the economy with liquidity trap in the banking sector.
The huge decline in banks’ deposits, according to sources in the banking sector, has forced most of the banks to increase the targets given to bank workers, in a bid to improve their liquidity position.
A top official in the banking sector told our corespondent on Sunday on condition of anonymity that the recent mass sacking in the industry was as a result of the declining rate of deposit mobilisation by some of the bank workers.
The official said while the withdrawal of government funds through the implementation of the TSA had badly affected the amount of bank deposits, the harsh economic climate had made it very difficult for many of the bank workers to meet up with their targets.
This development, according to the source was one of the reasons why many of the banks resorted to mass sacking of their workers.
The source said, “The competition for deposit mobilisation is very high now in the banking sector because since the government withdrew its funds through the TSA last year, a lot of banks were seriously affected.
“So, it has been challenging now for bank workers to mobilise deposits from customers as we used to do because of the economic situation.
“A lot of people are struggling to survive and even many of those that we meet when we go out to canvass for deposits will tell you that they are in need of money.”
A total of about 1,400 workers had so far been sacked by banks within one week in a move to prune the workforce in the sector.
The PUNCH had reported that Ecobank Nigeria sacked over 1,040 of its employees while Diamond Bank Plc and Skye Bank also sacked about 200 and 175 members of their staff, respectively.
In the same vein, FBN Holdings, the parent company of First Bank of Nigeria Limited, recently said it would reduce the number of its employees by 1,000.
The Nigerian equities market fetched investors the highest returns in the month of May, 2016 globally despite the economic headwinds, THISDAY checks have revealed.
The market has been bearish, recording a year-to-date decline of 4.9 per cent as at last Friday. However, the negative trend in the market notwithstanding, investors, who have remained in the Nigerian market wore the broadest smiles in the month of May as the market returned 10.38 per cent. The 10.38 per cent recorded by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index, was the highest monthly appreciation recorded across the globe in the month of May. The Bombay Stock Exchange 30 Index (India) trailed the NSE with an appreciation of 4.14 per cent. In Africa, the JSE All-Share Index rose by 1.79 per cent in May, while the Ghana Stock Exchange All-Share Index and Nairobi Stock Exchange All-Share Index fell by 3.85 per cent and 2.26 per cent in that order.
The Nigerian market outperformed even developed markets in Europe and America. In America, for instance, the Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded a marginal growth of 0.08 per cent, while S & P 500 Index went up by 1.53 per cent. FTSE 100 Index (United Kingdom) fell by 0.18 per cent, while Europe Swiss Market Index appreciated by 3.21 per cent. The CAC 40 Index (France) and DAX Index (Germany) gained 1.73 per cent and 2.23 per cent respectively. The Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index (China) and Hang Seng Index (Hong Kong) went down by 0.74 per cent and 1.20 per cent in that order in the month of May.
Meanwhile, assessing the performance of the Nigerian equities market in May, analysts at FSDH Merchant Bank Research said it was affected by four major factors.
The factors, according to them, included: the decision of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to maintain rates and possible adoption of a flexible exchange rate, the price deregulation at the downstream sector of the petroleum sector, the signing of the budget 2016 by the President Muhammadu Buhari and profit taking as the uncertainty surrounding the economy.
The analysts noted that the possible adoption of a flexible exchange rate policy may boost inflow of foreign portfolio investment into the equity market.
“The equity market still offers opportunity for medium-to-long term investors. We recommend that investors should maintain a medium-to-long term position in the market and reiterate that long-term investors should take long positions in stocks that have strong fundamentals,” they said.
In their asset portfolio allocation recommendation, FSDH favours equities and treasury bills, which they allocated 25 per cent apiece. They allocated 15 per cent to fund placement, 10 per cent to collective investment schemes and five per cent to Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT).
The nation’s overnight interbank rate rose to an average of four per cent on Friday, up from three per cent the previous week, as the Central Bank of Nigeria’s attempt to mop up excess liquidity from the banking system faltered.
Traders said the CBN failed to sell Treasury bills at its Open Market Operation window twice last week because commercial banks were asking for higher returns than the bank was willing to offer.
The CBN, however, sold 206-day bills worth N93.18bn ($468.24m) on Monday, and retired N129.61bn of matured OMO bills, leaving the system with more cash, Reuters reported.
Total banking system liquidity stood at N401.72bn on Thursday, slightly lower than N408.25bn the previous week, dealers said.
“We expect rates to trade lower next (this) week if the promise of the government to release capital project funding next (this) week is anything to go by,” one dealer said.
Meanwhile, the naira is expected to drop further against the United States dollar at the parallel market this week as the CBN moves to release details of its new flexible exchange rate policy.
The local currency was quoted at 368 to the dollar on the black market on Friday, compared with 350 last week.
The naira closed at 197.50 a dollar on the official interbank market, around the peg rate of 197.
The Group Managing Director, United Bank for Africa, Philips Oduoza, had said on Thursday that details of the proposed flexible currency model would be ready in a “short while”, after a Bankers Committee’s meeting in Abuja.
The announcement halted the free fall of the naira, while many traders expected that the announcement of the detail would spur the alignment of the parallel market rate and the official window, according to Reuters.
Major African currencies are also expected to come under pressure this week due to low foreign exchange supplies and lingering concerns about global economic growth.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, has disclosed that the federal government has invited the banks for dialogue in order to chart the way forward.
In a statement by the Deputy Director, Press in the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Samuel Olowookere, the minister said he was optimistic that the dialogue would be fruitful,
“We have invited the banks to a dialogue and we hope the dialogue will be fruitful,” Ngige stressed.
Ngige took a swipe at the Director General of the Nigeria Employers Consultative Assembly (NECA) Mr. Segun Oshinowo, over NECA’s opposition to the directive of the federal government to banks and other financial institutions to suspend the ongoing retrenchment of workers in the sector pending the outcome of a conciliatory meeting and stakeholders’ summit billed for the first week of July as not only irresponsible and thoughtless but also a bland knee jerk reaction borne out of self-service.
The minister’s position came amid several criticisms over his directive to banks, with many calling such act as arbitrary action beyond permissible boundaries.
He said: “Any reaction that tends to hamstrung the intervention by government in any sector of the economy in the overall interest of all Nigerians, by invoking a sudden rigid stricture to free market rules, is an overarching absurdity
“If government has been intervening and shall continue to intervene to save banks and allied institutions, even the aviation industry, in times of distress without allowing the free market rules to solely reign, therefore forcing some of them to go under, the same government can equally make minimum demands from this private sector in the overall interests of the nation. Our authority in this instance is not only statutory but also moral.
“Therefore, we wish to state clearly once more, that the intention of government rather than being punitive on these financial institutions is to safeguard national interest by staving off unnecessary job losses and hence avert its real and potential threat to the already fragile security situation and stability of the nation.
“Government intention is guided by the fact that there are clear alternatives to the abrasive lay off of thousands of workers especially in the background of non-compliance with laid down rules on redundancy as clearly enunciated in our labour laws.
“The labour unions in the financial sector have brought forward, very strong evidence that thousands of workers laid off last year in a similar exercise are yet to receive their negotiated benefits.
“May we also add that our directives to the banks are premised on set rules of engagement. That section 20 of the labour act is abundantly clear on redundancy and steps expected of institutions to safeguard not just their interests and that of their employees but also that of government who is the chief guarantor of industrial harmony.”
According to Ngige, “financial institutions though ‘privately owned’ are not mere private businesses in the manner of an average shop on the street, rather they are institutions whose stake in the stability of the national economy is denominated by their pivotal roles as well as consequent regulations and oversight by government.
“It is hence unpatriotic and a predetermined sabotage of common good to expect that government will have its hands tied by a mischievous and self serving credo about free market.”
“The intention of government is that if the private sector is helmed from expansion and new job creation as a result of downturn in the economy, it can at least hold onto what exists by these institutions making little adjustments in the administrative and other expenditure profile. We have made similar patriotic demands from the petroleum sector (International Oil Corporations) and got positive results.”
He argued that “there is nothing therefore inappropriate or untoward about this demand on the financial institutions except as viewed from the prism of those who are still slumbering in the thoughts and imagination, hamstrung by narrowness of thought.”
UAC of Nigeria PLC (UAC) has concluded plans to restructure the operations of three of its subsidiaries.
The companies are UACN Property Development Company Plc, Livestock Feeds and Portland Paints and Products Nigeria Plc.
Besides, the company paid a total dividend of N1.92 billion, culminating to 100 kobo per share due to every shareholder of the firm for the 2015 financial year. Addressing shareholders during the 2015 yearly general meeting held in Lagos yesterday, the Chairman of the company, Dan Agbor explained that the fund would be used to boost the company’s operational expenses, purchase of new machines, improve production facilities and enhance working capital.
“Against the backdrop of an extremely challenging economic and business environment in 2015 and the need to conserve funds so that we can participate in the Rights Issues to be undertaken by three of our subsidiaries.
“The objective of the capital raising proposals that were presented to the shareholders at the yearly general that took place on the 23rd of September 2015 was to attract a strategic investor or investors and obtain equity control that would be used to drive growth in certain subsidiaries. Following your approval of a one for 12 rights issue of 160,072,032 ordinary shares, your Board and Management made all necessary arrangements to launch the Issue.
“Unfortunately, however the weak performance of the Nigerian capital market has made it impossible to raise the requested capital on optimal terms and at the end of March 2016, a decision was taken by the Board to discontinue the Rights Issue. Your Board and Management will now undertake the needed investment and financial restructuring of those subsidiaries using internally generated funds”, the Chairman said.
Reviewing its performance, Agbor noted that the company posted group revenue of N73.I billion which was down by 14.6 per cent when compared to N85.6 billion achieved in the previous year while group profit after tax stood at N5.2 billion, lower than N10.9 billion posted in the previous year.
The shareholders commended the board for payment of dividend, amid harsh operating environment, urging them to reduce their expenses and the number of unclaimed dividend in the list.
Specifically, the Secretary General, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Adeleke Adebayo stressed the need for the company to reduce the number of its unclaimed dividend list by making it public.
He also urged the management to do everything within its powers to increase the dividend payout in the current financial year.
The market capitalisation of the Nigerian Stock Exchange appreciated by N64bn at the close of trading on the Exchange’s floor on Thursday with Unity Bank Plc, Nestle Nigeria Plc and Total Nigeria Plc emerging as the top gainers.
The market recorded 18 gainers and 17 laggards at the close of trading.
The NSE market capitalisation appreciated to N9.370tn from N9.306tn recorded on Wednesday, while the All-Share Index also rose to 27,284.83 basis points from 27,098.18 basis points.
A total of 182.676 million worth N1.58bn exchanged hands in 3,631 deals.
The shares of Unity Bank Plc appreciated by N0.10 (9.09 per cent) to close at N1.20 from N1.10, while those of Nestle rose by N68 (8.98 per cent) to close at N825 from N757.
Total’s share price also gained N8.26 (4.99 per cent) to close at N173.63 from N165.37, while that of NEM Insurance Company Nigeria Plc closed at N0.92 from N0.88, gaining N0.04 (4.55 per cent).
Other gainers were DN Meyer Plc, Vitafoam Nigeria Plc, Continental Reinsurance Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc, Access bank Plc, Berger Paints and Products Nigeria Plc, United Capital Plc, Diamond Bank Plc, Custodian and Allied Plc, among others.
On the other hand, Redstar Express Plc, Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Honeywell Flour Mill Plc and AG Leventis Nigeria Plc emerged as the top losers.
Redstar Express share price depreciated by N0.21 (4.99 per cent) to close at N4.00 from N4.21, while that of Cadbury fell to N18.51 from N19.48, losing N0.97 (4.98 per cent).
Honeywell shares also slid by N0.05 (2.94 per cent) to close at N1.65 from N1.70, while those of AG Leventis depreciated by N0.02 (2.17 per cent) to close at N0.90 from N0.92.
Other losers were Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Plc, Livestock Feeds Plc, FCMB Group Plc, Oando Plc, Nascon Allied Industries Plc, among others.
NSE, on Wednesday, also organised the Nigerian Capital Market Sustainability Reporting Seminar. It was a joint initiative of the NSE, Global Reporting Initiative and Ernst and Young.
Speaking at the forum, the Chief executive Officer, NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema, said traditionally, stock exchanges have become the nexus for the interaction between investors, companies, policymakers and regulators, adding that Exchanges had played a crucial role in building transparent, regulated markets and promoting best practice in financial and corporate governance disclosure among listed companies.
He said, “Today, Exchanges are also well suited to help with the 21st century sustainable development challenge as they are uniquely placed to facilitate action as regards sustainable business, with a variety of measures at their disposal. These include listing requirements related to sustainability reporting, voluntary initiatives, guidance documents and training for both companies and investors, and sustainable investment products such as indexes that focus on Environment, Social and Governance issues.
“There is a recognised need for enhanced levels of corporate transparency on ESG issues, and as an Exchange we are well positioned to encourage and even require listed companies to produce better sustainability reports that are issued consistently and with comparable information.”
He said currently, a range of capital market stakeholders were increasingly recognising the need for more widespread and consistent ESG disclosure, and were looking to policymakers and regulators for potential solutions. With more than a decade of voluntary initiatives and thousands of large companies producing ESG reports, he noted that there is an increased focus on efforts to ensure that improved sustainability performance spreads down from leading companies to the majority who are yet to adopt ESG disclosure practices.
“At the NSE, we have a number of motivational factors for the promotion of sustainability reporting initiatives. Firstly, we understand that transparency builds trust which is a critical ingredient to a well-functioning market and economy. Secondly, It has been proven that strong ESG performance attracts the growing number of investors interested in the long-term sustainability of their investments,” he said.
Companies integrating ESG performance into their business strategy and operations, he explained, showed that the benefits ranged from improved resource efficiency, improved stakeholder relations and social licence to operate, enhanced access to markets and investor confidence, as well as product and service innovation – all leading to enhanced competitiveness.
