By Adedapo Adesanya

Crude oil prices were more than 4 per cent lower on Friday after it was reported that China had initiated a push to resume stalled peace talks between the United States and Iran.

Brent futures settled at $96.78 a barrel after it lost $3.91 or ​3.88 per cent, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures finished at $89.31 a barrel, down $2.88 or 3.12 per cent.

⁠Both benchmarked crude rallied this week as the US and Iran exchanged missile strikes, traffic through the Strait of Hormuz fell to a trickle, and Yemen’s Houthis attacked shipping in the Red Sea. To make matters worse, Kazakhstan has suspended oil flows via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium system following Ukrainian drone attacks.

However, China’s foreign ministry said “China supports the mediation efforts made by Pakistan and other parties,” adding that the world’s largest oil importer will continue to “play an active role in restoring peace and tranquillity in the Middle East Gulf region as soon as possible.”

Pakistan is exploring a path towards a resumption of stalled US-Iran talks over ending their nearly five-month-old war, following a push initiated by China.

According to Reuters, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, also discussed the new Middle East effort with Chinese officials when he visited China last week.

China is Iran’s largest trading partner and primary buyer of its exported crude oil despite international sanctions on Iran, benefiting from a steep discount on the energy source.

US President Donald Trump had promised “major military punishment” for Iran and ​its Houthi allies after the strikes on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea.

Iran had been pressing the Houthis to close ​the Bab el-Mandeb gateway to the Red Sea if the US continued to attack Iranian power infrastructure. It is the second most important ‌route for ⁠energy shipments after the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf.

Additionally, the Houthis declared on Monday that they were imposing a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, which had been diverting its oil via pipeline to get around Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Daily vessel transits through the strait were steady at three for each of the past three days.

The Red Sea oil chokepoint has been critical for Saudi crude oil shipments after the kingdom has managed in recent months to redirect its exports that previously shipped from the Persian Gulf to Yanbu.

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

In the first quarter of its financial year ended June 30, 2026, Airtel Africa Plc showed resilience in the midst of challenging operating environments, churning out strong operating performance with accelerating customer base growth across all segments.

It was observed that the total customer base in Q1 2027 increased by 11.6 per cent to 189 million, with data customers rising by 15.5 per cent to 87.3 million.

In addition, data usage per customer continued its upward trajectory, rising from 7.8 GB to 10.6 GB per month over the past year, translating into a 56.3 per cent increase in data traffic across the network, underpinning a 10.3 per cent growth in constant currency data ARPU. Smartphone penetration was the key enabler of this increased traffic as penetration increased to 51.0 per cent as digital adoption of our services continues.

A look at the financial performance indicated that revenue in reported currency grew by 31.0 per cent to $1.85 billion, reflecting constant currency growth of 21.1 per cent and macroeconomic tailwinds supporting currency appreciation.

All segments continued to see double-digit constant currency revenue growth, with mobile services revenue growing by 19.1 per cent, and mobile money growing by 25.8 per cent.

Across mobile services, voice continued to see strong constant currency growth of 11.2 per cent and data revenue grew by 27.2 per cent.

In East Africa and Francophone Africa, constant currency revenues grew by 17.8 per cent and 18.0 per cent, respectively, while Nigerian revenues grew by 29.8 per cent, fully reflecting the lapping effect of the tariff adjustments which were implemented in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Constant currency EBITDA went up by 24.4 per cent, with reported currency EBITDA of $928 million growing by 36.6 per cent. The Q1’27 EBITDA margin of 50.1 per cent, an increase of 206bps year-on-year, continues to reflect the success of the company’s ongoing cost optimisation programme, despite the recent energy cost inflation arising from geopolitical developments.

The post-tax profit improved to $198 million from $156 million in the prior period, with higher profit after tax in the current period driven by elevated operating profit partially offset by derivative and foreign exchange losses of $6 million in the current period compared to $22 million derivative and foreign exchange gains in the prior period.

Furthermore, Profit after tax was impacted by the recognition of an exceptional finance cost of $37 million following an in-principle settlement reached during the quarter in respect of a commercial dispute in one of the group’s subsidiaries.

Commenting on the results, the chief executive of Airtel Africa, Mr Sunil Taldar, said, “We have started this year with another pleasing performance. Our continued focus on the customer experience translated into accelerating customer base growth across all business segments.

“As we continue to digitise our business, we are streamlining customer journeys, increasing digital adoption and harnessing data and AI to improve service delivery and support a strong, sustainable growth profile.”

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

One of the nation’s top brewers, Guinness Nigeria Plc, is paying an interim dividend of N7 per share to its shareholders for the period ended June 30, 2026.

The funds should, on August 10, 2026, hit the bank accounts of investors whose names appear in the Register of Members as of the close of business on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, a regulatory note from the organisation disclosed.

The firm has informed shareholders who have yet to complete the e-dividend registration to download the Registrar’s E-Dividend Mandate Activation Form, which is also available on its website, so as not to be left out of the cash reward for the first half of this year.

In the first six months of 2026, Guinness Nigeria grew its net profit by 53.33 per cent to N25.3 billion from N16.5 billion in the same period of 2025, amid improved top line and better management of administrative, marketing and distribution costs.

The revenue for the period under consideration rose to N265.0 billion from N237.0 billion, boosted by domestic sales of its products, which accounted for N260.9 billion compared with N237.0 billion a year earlier. The balance was from its export sales. This showed that over 98 per cent of the company’s earnings are from sales in Nigeria.

In the first half of the year, Guinness Nigeria improved its gross profit to N97.5 billion from N89.4 billion in the same period of 2025, as its finance income, arising from financial assets and others, stood at N1.2 billion compared with N110.7 million in H1 of 2026.