Economy
Africa Prudential to Sustain Diversification Strategies
By Dipo Olowookere
Managing Director of Africa Prudential Plc, Mr Obong Idiong, has said the company will continue to focus on its diversification strategies for the delivery of superior value to stakeholders.
Mr Idiong made this disclosure while reacting to the financial statements of the company for the first quarter of 2020, which were released to the investing community on Thursday.
According to him, “Our focus at Africa Prudential is still driven by our digital transformation strategies, achieving world-class superior value for all our stakeholders as we continue to pursue our diversification strategies.”
During the period under review, revenue from contracts with customers reduced by 52 percent year-on-year on the back of the drop in retainership fee coupled with a significant reduction in fee from corporate actions as a result of the postponement of clients’ AGMs and dividend payment in response to the spread of the novel coronavirus in Nigeria.
The company was, however, able to increase its revenue from digital consultancy by more than 900 percent, thereby emphasising the positive result from the company’s diversification strategy into digital technology.
On the other hand, the company recorded a 3 percent year-on-year increase in interest income driven by a 23 percent surge in the interest realized from loans and advances, thereby overriding the drop from other interest income sources.
Also, this reduced by 9 percent year-on-year, due to the 25 percent decline in profit before finance costs and tax as well as an increase in the company’s operating expenses amidst the mounting pressure on gross earnings brought about by the coronavirus-induced disruption to the company’s operations.
For Mr Idiong, the earnings were too impressive because of the COVID-19, which has forced many businesses to either shut down or operate remotely.
“Globally, this year had kicked off on an unprecedented note, with the unanticipated spread of the coronavirus disrupting economic activities all across the globe, Nigeria inclusive.
“The COVID-19 pandemic had threatened the smooth operations of our business and that of our clients’ mounting enormous pressure on our revenue sources particularly the revenue from contract with customers, the resultant effect was the reduction recorded in our gross earnings for Q1 2020.
“However, the over 900 percent surge in our digital consultancy revenue attest to the fact that we have a lot of opportunities to harness the potential inherent in our digital technology business to boost our revenue whilst upscaling our diversification strategy.
“The period under review tested our commitment to delivering value to our stakeholders while ensuring that we communicate truthfully, calmly and with resolve.
“As an organisation, we prioritize the welfare and safety of our employees and have responded proactively by implementing our Business Continuity Plan (BCP) which involves the work-from-home protocol for all our departments and business segments whilst attending to all shareholders’ request through our electronic channels.
“Further, we have commenced the full end-to-end automation of AGMs while providing technology-driven solutions for the corporate action activities of our clients.
“We will continue to offer services through our various cloud based digital platforms, sustain ongoing technological projects and adequately position for post-crisis continuity of our business operations,” the MD said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed flat on Wednesday, January 14, with the key performance indicators like the market capitalisation and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) remaining unchanged at N2.2 trillion and 3,678.13 points, respectively.
This happened despite the alternative stock market recording three price gainers led by Nipco Plc, which appreciated by N21.42 to sell at N235.90 per share compared with the N214.48 per share achieved a day earlier.
Further, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc improved its value by 84 Kobo to close at N40.97 per unit versus N40.13 per unit, and IPWA Plc expanded by 12 Kobo to finish at N1.35 per share, in contrast to Tuesday’s price of N1.23 per share.
During the trading session, the price of Food Concepts Plc went down by 31 Kobo to end at N3.06 per unit compare with the preceding day’s N3.37 per unit.
Yesterday, there was a 71.6 per cent drop in the value of transactions to N24.4 million from the N86.1 million recorded in the previous day, same as the volume of transactions, which shrank by 60.3 per cent to 645,002 units from the 1.6 million units posted in the previous day, as the number of deals depreciated by 71.6 per cent to 19 deals from 67 deals.
When the market closed for the day, CSCS Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 2.6 million units for N102.5 million, followed by MRS Oil Plc with a turnover of 265,748 units valued at N53.1 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 6.4 million units worth N43.4 million.
Geo-Fluids Plc ended the day as the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 6.4 million units traded for N43.4 million, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with a turnover of 3.1 million units valued at N1.9 million, and CSCS Plc with 2.6 million units sold for N102.5 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira crashed against the United States Dollar on Wednesday, January 14 by 38 Kobo or 0.03 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) to N1,420.04/$1, in contrast to the N1,419.66/$1 it was traded a day earlier.
Despite the decline in the daily value of the Naira against the greenback in the official FX market, the near-term projection indicate that with continued support by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), stronger external inflows from foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), and improving current account dynamics, the local currency will remain within projected range.
The country’s external reserves continued to swell as it added $40.26 million to the previous day’s balance, bringing total reserves to $45.78 billion.
Data showed that the domestic currency firmed up against the Pound Sterling in the spot market by N2.89 to trade at N1,911.09/£1 versus Tuesday’s closing rate of N1,913.98/£1 and gained N1.11 against the Euro to finish at N1,655.48/€1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,656.59/€1.
At the GTBank forex desk, the Nigerian currency gained N4 on the US Dollar to sell for N1,427/$1, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1,431/$1 but closed flat at the black market at N1,490/$1.
A look at the cryptocurrency market showed that most of the tracked tokens were under pressure as broader financial markets turned cautious of the US-Iran rhetoric, which affect risk assets like crypto.
US President Donald Trump signaled he may delay military action against Iran, easing immediate geopolitical tensions.
With upcoming U.S. economic data unlikely to shift expectations for a Federal Reserve rate cut before midyear, traders are watching whether crypto can hold positive positions despite softer equity markets.
During the trading day, Litecoin (LTC) declined by 4.9 per cent to $74.70, Cardano (ADA) slumped by 4.3 per cent to $0.4024, Dogecoin (DOGE) went down by 2.6 per cent to $0.1433, Ripple (XRP) slipped by 2.0 per cent to $2.09, Ethereum (ETH) shrank by 0.13 per cent to $3,319.40, and Binance Coin (BNB) depreciated by 0.05 per cent to $936.13.
On the gainers’ angle, Bitcoin (BTC) led with an appreciation of 2.9 per cent to sell at $96,474.70, and Solana (SOL) grew by 0.3 per cent to $144.49, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
It was another trading session in the green territory for Customs Street on Wednesday as it closed higher by 0.56 per cent as investors doubled down on their confidence in the market.
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited rallied despite the consumer goods sector going down by 0.20 per cent due to profit-taking by traders.
According to data, the 6.26 per cent gain recorded by the energy space and the others contributed to the growth achieved by bourse at midweek.
Business Post reports that the commodity index was up by 3.35 per cent, the insurance counter expanded by 0.78 per cent, the banking index grew by 0.05 per cent, and the industrial goods sector advanced by 0.01 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) of the platform was swollen by 934.63 points to 166,771.95 points from 165,837.32 points as the market capitalisation inflated by N599 billion to N106.781 trillion from N106.182 trillion.
During the session, there were 47 price gainers and 28 price losers, implying a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.
Academy Press gained 10.00 per cent to close at N8.25, NCR Nigeria improved by 9.98 per cent to N106.30, Tripple G surged by 9.95 per cent to N4.86, Tantalizers rose by 9.93 per cent to N2.99, and McNichols leapt by 9.92 per cent to N7.31.
On the flip side, May and Baker lost 9.79 per cent to trade at N28.55, Coronation Insurance shed 6.76 per cent to settle at N3.31, Livestock Feeds declined by 6.67 per cent to N7.00, PZ Cussons moderated by 6.52 per cent to N54.50, and Eterna gave up 6.30 per cent to quote at N34.20.
It was a quiet market day on Wednesday as the level of activity dropped, as Access Holdings, which led the chart by volume, only transacted 53.4 million shares valued at N1.2 billion, Lasaco Assurance traded 39.0 million stocks worth N100.2 million, Veritas Kapital sold 32.8 million equities for N69.6 million, Tantalizers exchanged 30.1 million shares worth N89.6 million, and Deap Capital traded 28.6 million stocks valued at N114.1 million.
At the close of business, a total of 761.9 million equities worth N29.9 billion exchanged hands in 55,751 deals compared with the 1.1 billion equities valued at N33.6 billion transacted in 49,216 deals on Tuesday, indicating a shortfall in the trading volume and value by 30.74 per cent and 11.01 per cent apiece, and a leap in the number of deals by 13.28 per cent.
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