Economy
NGX Performance Indices Drop 0.66% on Access Holdings’ Disappointing Interim Dividend
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) kicked off the first trading session in the last week of the third quarter of the year on a negative note, with the key performance indices going down by 0.66 per cent on Monday.
This was partly caused by the reaction of investors to the 30 Kobo interim dividend declaration of the board of Access Holdings Plc.
A few days ago, its peer, UBA Plc, raised its interim dividend payment by 150 per cent to 50 Kobo and it was expected that Access Holdings would follow the same path.
However, the company disappointed traders, choosing to maintain its conservative style of holding funds for expansion through mergers and acquisitions.
This resulted in the heavy loss suffered by the banking index yesterday, 3.18 per cent, and with the 0.14 per cent decline posted by the consumer goods space, the bourse landed in the midst of the bears, which devoured the market despite the 0.18 per cent growth posted by the insurance sector, the 0.11 per cent rise recorded by the industrial goods sector. The energy counter remained flat.
At the close of transactions, the All-Share Index (ASI) declined by 441.95 points to 66,882.64 points from 67,324.59 points, and the market capitalisation decreased by N242 billion to N36.605 trillion from N36.847 trillion.
The activity chart was mixed during the trading session, with the volume of trades going down by 60.31 per cent to 408.2 million shares from 1.0 billion, the value of transactions increasing by 22.73 per cent to N5.4 billion from N4.4 billion, and the number of deals expanding by 20.99 per cent to 7,707 deals from 6,370 deals.
Access Holdings dominated the activity chart on Monday with the sale of 113.4 million equities for N1.8 billion, UBA traded 59.6 million shares worth N1.1 billion, Unity Bank exchanged 27.8 million stocks for N28.4 million, Universal Insurance transacted 17.6 million shares valued at N3.9 million, and Transcorp traded 16.8 million equities worth N103.7 million.
Business Post reports that investor sentiment was weak yesterday due to the negative market breadth index triggered by the selling pressure on 37 stocks. Only 15 stocks ended on the gainers’ log at the close of trading activities.
On top of the losers’ table was Caverton after it fell by 9.87 per cent to settle at N1.37, Access Holdings dropped 9.86 per cent to close at N15.55, Oando lost 9.70 per cent to finish at N10.70, The Initiates depleted by 9.65 per cent to N1.03, and RT Briscoe shed 9.52 per cent to end at 38 Kobo.
On the flip side, Ikeja Hotel was the best-performing stock after it grew by 10.00 per cent to N2.75, John Holt gained 9.70 per cent to quote at N1.81, Cornerstone Insurance appreciated by 9.49 per cent to N1.50, Regency Alliance rose by 8.57 per cent to 38 Kobo, and Tantalizers inflated by 6.67 per cent to 32 Kobo.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
About N3.007 trillion of the N4.359 trillion revenue generated by Nigeria in July 2026 was disbursed in August 2026 to the three tiers of government by the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) at its meeting held in Owerri, Imo State, on the sidelines of the National Council of the Federation and Economic Development.
A statement issued on Tuesday by the Director of Press and Public Relations in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr Bawa Mokwa, disclosed that the gross statutory revenue jumped 17.8 per cent from N3.700 trillion in June due to improved collections from petroleum and non-oil revenue sources.
The statement noted that Petroleum Profit Tax, Hydrocarbon Tax, Companies Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax, Stamp Duty, petroleum royalties, mineral royalties, excise duty and gas-flaring penalties rose, while earnings from Value Added Tax (VAT), import duty, Common External Tariff levies, gas-flaring fee rentals and miscellaneous oil revenue declined.
“In its regular monthly business, FAAC approved the disbursement of a total of N3.007 trillion to the Federal Government, the 36 State Governments and the 774 Local Government Councils as revenue for July 2026,” a part of the statement disclosed.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices rose marginally as Iran said it would adopt a more offensive stance and the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed, while the United States ruled out extending a ceasefire.
Brent crude futures finished higher by 15 cents or 0.17 per cent at $91.02 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures chalked up 44 cents or 0.52 per cent to trade at $84.94 a barrel.
A top Iranian negotiator, Mr Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said that Iran will keep the strait closed until the United States meets the conditions of the interim deal signed in June.
Mr Qalibaf’s comments came after a senior Iranian official earlier said that Iran will shift to a “fully offensive” military posture as efforts have stalled toward a permanent end to the war.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump, who previously labelled that deal “over,” said on Tuesday that talks between the US and Iran were neither taking place nor scheduled, but the strait was open.
Iran has separately been negotiating with Oman on an agreement on managing the strait and says they are close to a deal. However, the American President threatened to bomb Oman, a longstanding US security partner.
Yemen’s Houthis launched missiles in an attack on vessels they described as a Saudi military ship and four escorts in the Red Sea while the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) separately said it received a report on Tuesday that a vessel was struck by an unknown projectile while transiting out of the strait, causing engine room damage and a crew casualty.
Amid these developments, Saudi Aramco has resumed oil loadings from inside the strait, and is offering cargoes for loading via ship-to-ship transfers off Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) while two Chinese shipping giants also have started collecting oil cargoes outside the Gulf.
Russia is reportedly rerouting Kazakhstan’s crude oil exports from the Baltic port of Ust-Luga to the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, freeing up capacity for more Russian oil exports from the Baltic amid heightened Black Sea security risks. The move would allow Russia to replace Kazakh barrels at Ust-Luga with its own crude exports, while Ukrainian drone attacks make it more difficult for Russian exporters to secure tankers for Black Sea loadings.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) is set to investigate leading cement manufacturers over allegations of price manipulation in the Nigerian cement market.
The anti-trust agency has formally issued a Notice of Commencement of Investigation and Summons to Produce to major manufacturers in Nigeria’s cement industry following preliminary findings from a three-month cross-border study conducted by its Anticompetitive Practices Department. Some of Nigeria’s manufacturers include Dangote Cement, BUA Cement and HBM Nigeria, previously known as Lafarge Africa.
The investigation, according to a statement signed by the Director of Corporate Communications at FCCPC, Mr Ondaje Ijagwu, was initiated in response to persistent public complaints over the rapidly rising cost of cement.
The commission’s preliminary 40-page field report revealed a sharp increase in retail prices during the first half of 2026, where a 50kg bag selling for between N9300 and N9700 in January escalated to between N13,000 and N15,000 in several regions by July.
The FCCPC noted that Nigeria maintains an installed production capacity exceeding 60 to 65 million metric tonnes annually against an estimated domestic demand of roughly 25 to 30 million metric tonnes, creating a situation of significant excess installed capacity where downward price pressure would ordinarily be expected.
It also stated that cross-border comparative metrics across Sub-Saharan and North African markets revealed that retail prices in Nigeria remain significantly higher than in countries such as Kenya, Tanzania and Togo despite Togo lacking natural limestone deposits.
“Of particular concern to the commission is that this level of production capacity has not resulted in the downward pressure on domestic prices that might ordinarily be expected in a competitive market with substantial excess capacity,” the agency said.
While cement manufacturers have pointed to macroeconomic headwinds, including persistent Naira depreciation, rising energy expenses, transport logistics, and the inflated cost of imported industrial machinery spare parts, the FCCPC is actively auditing these claims against verified operational data.
Through the formal summons, the commission is legally requiring the affected entities to present comprehensive documentation detailing their pricing methods, factory capacity utilisation rates, export volumes, and distribution network agreements.
