Economy
Afreximbank Buys 5% Equity Stake in Geregu Power for N12.5bn
By Dipo Olowookere
A multilateral trade finance institution, African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank), has completed its acquisition of a minority stake in a Nigerian power-generating firm, Geregu Power Plc.
The lender purchased a 5 per cent equity stake in Geregu Power through its subsidiaries, Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA).
The deal was completed at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Tuesday in an off-market deal, with PAC Securities Limited as the buyer and APT Securities and Funds Limited as the seller.
Data obtained by Business Post showed that the reputable financial institution bought 125.0 million units of the company’s stocks at N100 per unit, amounting to N12.5 billion.
Recall that last December, Geregu Power announced that it had been approached by the bank for a stake in the firm, which was the first power-generating company to list its shares on the local stock exchange.
“Geregu Power Plc hereby notifies Nigerian Exchange Limited and the investing public of its discussions with the Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA) for the acquisition of a portion of Geregu Power Plc shares.
“FEDA is the impact development arm of the Africa Export and Import Bank (Afreximbank).
“The discussions are currently ongoing, and where these talks progress to a more advanced stage, the company will notify the exchange and the investing public in line with the rules of the exchange,” a statement signed by the company’s scribe, Mr Akinleye Olagbende, stated.
Geregu Power joined the stock market on Wednesday, October 5, 2022, and quoted a total of 2.5 billion units of its shares at N100.00 per unit by way of introduction, increasing the market capitalisation of the exchange by N250 billion.
On that day, the share price of the organisation rose by a maximum of 10 per cent at the NGX as a result of a strong appetite for Geregu stocks, closing at N110.00 per unit and driving up its market capitalisation to N275 billion from N250 billion.
But at the close of business on Tuesday, February 21, 2023, the share price was flat at N224.00, and at the time of filing this report on Wednesday, February 22, 2023, it had gained 10.00 per cent to trade at N246.40.
Geregu Power was acquired by billionaire businessman, Mr Femi Otedola, shortly after he sold his interests in Forte Oil a few years ago.
By Dipo Olowookere
The All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited depreciated on Friday by 0.33 per cent or 180.87 points to 54,232.34 points from 54,413.21 points.
This loss was mainly triggered by the 3.59 per cent decline recorded by the industrial goods sectors as Dangote Cement saw a markdown for dividends during the session, having such a negative impact on the outcome of the market.
In the same vein, the market capitalisation went down by N98 billion to settle at N29.544 trillion compared with the previous day’s N29.642 trillion.
However, the investor sentiment remained strong as the market breadth was positive with 20 price gainers and 14 price losers led by CWG, which depreciated by 9.38 per cent to 87 Kobo. Caverton declined by 9.35 per cent to 97 Kobo, Transcorp went down by 7.33 per cent to N1.39, United Capital shrank by 3.45 per cent to N11.20, and Cutix shed 2.61 per cent to N2.24.
Conversely, Lasaco Assurance topped the gainers’ table after its value grew by 10.00 per cent to N1.10, Ikeja Hotel went up by 9.91 per cent to N1.22, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance appreciated by 9.68 per cent to 68 Kobo, UAC Nigeria expanded by 9.14 per cent to N9.55, and Northern Nigerian Flour Mills rose by 8.64 per cent to N11.95.
During the session, Transcorp recorded the highest traded stock as it sold 287.7 million units, followed by Fidelity Bank, which traded 86.4 million units. UBA transacted 39.0 million units, NGX Group exchanged 25.4 million units, and Oando sold 21.8 million units.
At the close of business, the bourse reported a turnover of 557.9 million equities worth N3.7 billion in 3,943 deals compared with the 973.6 million equities worth N4.2 billion traded in 3,718 deals on Thursday, representing an increase in the number of deals by 6.05 per cent, a decline in the trading volume and value by 42.70 per cent and 11.91 per cent, respectively.
Business Post reports that the insurance appreciated by 1.92 per cent on Friday, the banking space rose by 0.61 per cent, and the consumer goods counter grew by 0.15 per cent, while the energy sector closed flat.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira appreciated against the United States Dollar across the main segments of the foreign exchange (forex) market, the Peer-2-Peer (P2P), the Investors and Exporters (I&E), and the black market windows, on Friday, March 31.
In the spot market, the Naira gained 12 Kobo or 0.03 per cent against the greenback during the session to sell at N461.38/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s value of N461.50/$1, amid the sale of FX valued at $188.98 million, according to data obtained from FMDQ Securities Exchange.
Also, in the P2P arm of the market, the Nigerian currency was exchanged with its American counterpart on Friday at N765/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s N766/$1, indicating an appreciation of N1.
Similarly, in the parallel market, the domestic currency closed stronger against the US Dollar yesterday by N2 to settle at N747/$1 compared with Thursday’s closing rate of N749/$1.
However, in the interbank window, the local currency lost N1.85 against the Pound Sterling to quote at N570.35/£1 compared with the preceding session’s N568.50/£, and against the Euro, it depreciated by 96 Kobo to finish at N501.17/€1 versus N500.21/€1.
Meanwhile, in the digital currency market, the bulls had a field day as they strengthened most of the tokens tracked by Business Post, with Bitcoin (BTC) rising by 1.3 per cent to $28,421.28, and Ethereum (ETH) expanding by 1.1 per cent to $1,816.98.
Further, Litecoin (LTC) increased its value by 3.5 per cent to quote at $92.52, Cardano (ADA) gained 3.4 per cent to sell for $0.391, Dogecoin (DOGE) appreciated by 2.8 per cent to trade at $0.0766, and Solana (SOL) recorded a 2.6 per cent jump to finish at $20.91.
On the flip side, Ripple (XRP) suffered a 5.3 per cent to trade at $0.5175, Binance Coin (BNB) went down by 0.5 per cent to quote at $314.38, as the value of Binance USD (BUSD) and the US Dollar Tether (USDT) remained unchanged at the close of transactions at $1.00 apiece.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange ended the last trading session of the week on a bearish note with a 0.38 per cent loss on Friday.
The decline reported by unlisted stocks was influenced by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc and Central Securities Clearing Systems (CSCS) Plc.
FrieslandCampina shed 91 Kobo yesterday to close at N80.09 per unit versus Thursday’s closing price of N81.00 per unit, as CSCS Plc depreciated by 49 Kobo to sell at N14.86 per share, in contrast to the previous day’s N15.35 per share.
The duo overshadowed the gains posted CitiTrust Plc and Afriland Properties Plc, with the former rising by 25 Kobo to N13.50 per share from N13.25 per share, and the latter growing by 7 Kobo to N2.16 per unit from N2.09 per unit.
At the close of trades, the market capitalisation of the bourse decreased by N3.88 billion to N1.025 trillion from N1.029 billion, while the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) went down by 2.80 points to 741.97 points from 743.84 points.
There was a rise in the volume of securities traded at the bourse yesterday by 1,238.5 per cent to 318.5 million units from the 23.8 million units transacted a day earlier, as the value of shares traded at the session ballooned by 4,146.7 per cent to N1.3 billion from the N31.3 million posted on Thursday, with the number of deals increasing by 300 per cent to 36 deals from the nine deals carried out in the preceding session.
Geo-Fluids Plc remained the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 801.1 million units valued at N1.2 billion, UBN Property Plc was in second place with 365.8 units valued at N309.5 million, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc was in third place with 91.2 million units worth N6.7 million.
VFD Group Plc ended the session as the most traded stock by value (year-to-date) with 10.3 million units worth N2.3 billion, Geo-Fluids Plc was second with 801.1 million units worth N1.2 billion, and UBN Property Plc was in third place with 365.8 million units valued at N309.5 million.
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