Economy
Fidson Closes as Worst-Performing Stock as Index Sheds 0.40%
By Dipo Olowookere
It was a bad day for Fidson Healthcare Plc on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday as its share price depreciated by 10 per cent.
This poor performance occurred on a day information emerged that the company’s N10 billion commercial paper programme was accepted on the trading platform of FMDQ Securities Exchange.
During the trading session, shares of the healthcare firm went down to N4.41 per unit from the previous N4.90 per unit as investors trimmed their stake in the organisation.
Fidson was among the 47 price losers recorded at the market yesterday. It was closely followed by Northern Nigerian Flour Mills, which declined by 9.97 per cent to sell at N6.32 per unit.
Nigerian Enamelware lost 9.95 per cent to trade at N19.90 per share, NEM Insurance depreciated by 9.95 per cent to close at N1.72 per unit, while NCR Nigeria dropped 9.91 per cent to quote at N3.09 per share.
Business Post reports that there were 12 price risers yesterday and University Press led the chart after its value appreciated by 9.91 per cent to trade at N1.22 per unit.
Morison grew by 9.09 per cent to close at 60 kobo per share, CAP gained 5.26 per cent to sell for N20 per unit, Lafarge Africa gained 3.59 per cent to close at N20.20 per unit, while Livestock Feeds grew by 3.17 per cent to N2.28 per share.
Yesterday, only the industrial goods index closed positive as it appreciated by 0.19 per cent, while the insurance, banking, consumer goods and energy sectors depreciated by 4.04 per cent, 1.54 per cent, 1.47 per cent and 0.65 per cent respectively.
For the All-Share Index (ASI), it decreased by 157.39 points to 39,364.67 points from 39,522.06 points, while the market capitalisation depreciated by N82 billion to N20.596 trillion from N20.678 trillion.
On the activity chart, there was an improvement as the trading volume rose by 101.84 per cent to 493.2 million units from 244.3 million units, the trading value increased by 14.40 per cent to N4.7 billion from N4.1 billion, while the number of deals rose by 16.38 per cent to 5,486 deals from 4,714 deals.
Unlike the preceding day, Universal Insurance was the most active stock with the sale of 83.3 million units of its shares valued at N16.7 million.
Zenith Bank dropped to the second position after it sold 38.7 million units worth N983.3 million, FBN Holdings transacted 31.3 million stocks for N216.7 million, UBA traded 26.8 million equities valued at N211.6 million, while Access Bank exchanged 21.6 million shares for N168.1 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
