Economy
Fidson, Lasaco Open Week as Worst-Performing Stocks
By Dipo Olowookere
The first trading session of the new week on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited was not palatable for Fidson Healthcare, Lasaco Assurance and 15 other stocks.
Fidson ended the trading session as the worst-performing stock after its share price went down by 9.80 per cent to settle at N4.60, with Lasaco Assurance losing 9.33 per cent to trade at N1.36.
FTN Cocoa went down by 9.09 per cent to 30 kobo, Mutual Benefits Assurance declined by 8.89 per cent to quote at 41 kobo, while Cornerstone Insurance depreciated by 5.17 per cent to sell for 55 kobo.
Business Post reports that investors continued with the cautious trading witnessed at the exchange lately as they cherry-picked equities they believe could add more value in the coming weeks, especially with good half-year earnings.
This contributed to the marginal 0.08 per cent growth reported on Monday at the NGX and it was mainly due to bargain hunting in 18 shares, with Meyer finishing as the best-performing stock after it gained 8.77 per cent to trade at 62 kobo.
Champion Breweries appreciated by 6.06 per cent to N2.10, Julius Berger went up by 44.71 per cent to N20.00, Regency Alliance improved by 4.00 per cent to 52 kobo, while Ikeja Hotel gained 3.19 per cent to trade at 97 kobo.
When the market closed yesterday, the banking industry was up by 0.11 per cent, the consumer goods index was up by 0.06 per cent, the industrial goods counter was up by 0.03 per cent, while the insurance and energy sectors were down by 1.13 per cent and 0.07 per cent respectively.
As for the benchmark index, the All-Share Index (ASI), it was slightly higher by 29.57 points to settle at 38,678.48 points.
During the session, investors traded a total of 209.2 million shares worth N1.8 billion in 3,390 deals compared with the 220.6 million stocks worth N2.5 billion traded in 2,952 deals last Friday.
The demand for Access Bank was high on Monday and it closed as the most active stock with the sale of 22.7 million units valued at N194.0 million.
Axa Mansard Insurance sold 16.7 million shares worth N15.1 million, Zenith Bank exchanged 16.2 million equities worth N384.6 million, Mutual Benefits sold 14.7 million stocks for N6.0 million, while Chams transacted 13.5 million shares valued at N2.7 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.
