Economy
Access Bank, Dangote Cement, Others Declare Closed Periods
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
As the market enters earnings season this month, some companies trading their shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) have announced their closed periods.
Business Post reports that a closed period is the time frame between the completion of financial statements of a company listed on the stock exchange and the release of these results to the investing public.
The period normally lasts about two months and according to the market rules, insiders, who are majorly people with sensitive information about the firm that could trigger the price of the stock at the market, are prevented from trading on the company’s share.
The reason for this is to stop any insider from using the vital information in his possession to affect the price of the stock, especially to his advantage.
On September 30, 2018, most firms listed on the NSE ended their third quarter and by the NSE rules, they should release their results on or before October 31, 2018 to the investing public.
Last week, some companies announced their closed periods as well as meeting of their boards to consider the Q3 results before releasing them to the exchange.
However, some of them will first get approvals from regulators of their various sectors, especially for banks and insurance companies, before releasing them to the NSE and the general public.
Last Friday, Access Bank informed the NSE that its board would meet on Tuesday, October 30, 2018, to consider and approve the lender’s Unaudited Financial Statements.
The financial institution also declared a “closed period in respect of transaction on its securities from October 6, 2018 to such date as will be subsequently announced in compliance with Rule 17.2 of the Amendment to the Listing Rules of the NSE.”
“Accordingly, no director, employee, person discharging managerial responsibility, adviser of the company and their connected persons may directly or indirectly, deal in the securities of the company in any manner during the closed period,” the notice said.
Also last week, Dangote Cement, another firm trading its equities on the NSE, disclosed that it has entered a closed trading period from October 4, 2018 until 24 hours after the release of its financial statements for the period ended September 30, 2018.
Dangote Cement explained that the closed period was “application to directors, senior manager and other interested parties may at any time possess sensitive information that may materially affect the price of the securities of the company.”
On its part, Berger Paints said its Board of Directors would be meeting on Thursday, October 25, 2018, to consider the company’s 2018 Q3 Unaudited Financial Statements (Accounts) and consequently declared “a closed period from Wednesday, October 10, 2018 till October 26, 2018, being 24 hours after the Accounts are to be filed with the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), in line with Rules 17.17 & 17.18 of Part 2 (Issuer’s Rules) of the NSE’s Rule Book (2015).”
For Chemical and Allied Products (CAP) Plc, a meeting of its board has been fixed for Friday, October 19, 2018 to consider and approve the financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2018.
The firm announced a closed period from October 4 to 31, 2018 and barred any of its employees, directors and others from trading on its shares at the stock market until “24 hours after the release of the unaudited financial results for the period ended September 30, 2018 to the NSE.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed flat on Wednesday, August 5, as the market witnessed weaker trading activity with only two deals executed.
In the midweek session, the volume of securities exchanged by investors dropped 99.9 per cent to 802 units from the 1.6 million units recorded on Tuesday. The value of securities further decreased by 99.6 per cent to N208,240 from the preceding session’s N47.6 million, and the number of deals significantly went down by 93.9 per cent to two deals from the 33 deals recorded a day earlier.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 76.9 million units transacted for N5.5 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged 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 valued at N415.7 million.
There were no price gainers or losers yesterday.
As a result, the market capitalisation stood unmoving at N2.739 trillion, while the NASD Security Index (NSI) remained unchanged at 4,563.96 points.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira slid against the US Dollar by N2.28 or 0.17 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Wednesday, August 5, to N1,363.85/$1 from N1,362.55/$1.
The local currency also declined against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N5.97 to close at N1,837.38/£1 compared with Tuesday’s closing rate of N1,831.41/£1, and against the Euro, it crashed by N6.54 to quote at N1,575.25/€1 versus the preceding session’s N1,568.71/€1.
But at the black market, the Nigerian Naira traded flat against the greenback yesterday at N1,400/$1, and also remained unchanged at the GTBank FX desk at N1,373/$1.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says rates have narrowed to below two per cent, while the country’s external reserves have risen above $52.5 billion, reflecting the impact of its ongoing monetary and foreign exchange reforms.
CBN Governor Yemi Cardoso, represented by the Acting Director of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations, Mrs Hakama Sidi-Ali, disclosed this on Tuesday during the CBN Fair in Gombe. He noted that reforms introduced since 2023 had significantly reduced the disparity between the official FX market and the parallel market.
“The Naira continues to strengthen, with the spread between official and Bureau de Change rates now below two per cent,” he said, adding that reserves at $52.5 billion were supported by sustained inflows and renewed investor confidence in the economy.
Interbank FX transactions slid as weaker market activities dropped total Dollar volume exchanged to $75.35 million, a 51.8 per cent decline from $156.23 million in turnover quoted at the previous close.
The deals at the NFEM window also fell as data from the central bank put Wednesday’s quote at 82 from 139.
In the cryptocurrency market, major were down as global risk sentiment softened as a key world equity index slipped and chipmakers fell.
The MSCI All Country World Index snapped a five-day run to fall 0.2 per cent as chipmakers retreated on both sides of the Pacific. South Korea’s Kospi, a bellwether for the AI trade, dropped 4.4 per cent.
Ripple (XRP) depleted by 1.7 per cent to $1.05, Binance Coin (BNB) decreased by 1.0 per cent to $594.87, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 0.9 per cent to $0.1884, TRON (TRX) shrank by 0.2 per cent to $0.3261, Solana (SOL) crumbled by 0.1 per cent to $74.00, and Dogecoin (DOGE) went down by 0.1 per cent to $0.0697.
On the flip side, Ethereum (ETH) gained 2.3 per cent to trade at $1,911.41, and Bitcoin (BTC) rose by 0.8 per cent to $64,759.28, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
By Dipo Olowookere
The domestic stock exchange rebounded by 0.05 per cent on Wednesday on the back of renewed bargain-hunting by investors, though the level of activity waned.
After bleeding for a few days, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited heaved a sigh of relief yesterday, as the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 109.41 points to close at 244,912.24 points compared with the previous day’s 244,802.83 points, and the market capitalisation garnered N71 billion to settle at N158.087 trillion versus Tuesday’s N158.016 trillion.
Business Post reports that despite the rebound recorded by Customs Street at midweek, the market breadth index remained negative, as there were 20 price advancers and 29 price decliners, implying bearish investor sentiment.
Linkage Assurance appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N1.77, AVA Capital rose by 9.55 per cent to N10.90, Fortis Global Insurance advanced by 7.69 per cent to N2.80, McNichols gained 7.34 per cent to finish at N5.85, and Coronation Insurance surged by 5.51 per cent to N2.49.
Conversely, Honeywell Flour depreciated by 9.94 per cent to N16.30, PZ Cussons gave up 9.94 per cent to trade at N74.75, Zichis crashed by 9.74 per cent to N20.76, Learn Africa slipped by 9.62 per cent to N9.40, and Neimeth tumbled by 8.33 per cent to N8.25.
The busiest equity was FCMB, with a turnover of 369.2 million units valued at N4.1 billion. Chams transacted 46.7 million units worth N201.8 million, First Holdco transacted 43.5 million units for N5.7 billion, Access Holdings sold 29.8 million units worth N778.0 million, and Linkage Assurance exchanged 19.6 million units valued at N33.5 million.
At the close of transactions, market participants bought and sold 824.1 million units worth N25.5 billion in 48,114 deals, in contrast to the 1.6 billion units sold for N28.7 billion in 54,160 deals a day earlier, showing a shortfall in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 48.49 per cent, 11.15 per cent, and 11.16 per cent, respectively.
