By Adedapo Adesanya

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has announced the extension of tax office operations to weekends for June.

The Chairman of the agency, Mr Zacch Adedeji, gave the directive in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr Dare Adekanmbi, who explained that this is part of Mr Adedeji’s commitment to matching the agency’s customer-centric policy with tangible action.

“With the directive, tax offices are expected to open for business from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on Saturdays and 12:00 noon to 4:00 pm on Sundays throughout the month of June,” he said.

“The weekend service, which started on June 14, will end on Sunday, June 29.

“It is aimed at helping companies that are mandated by law to file their tax returns by the end of the month meet up with the deadline,” he explained.

The statement said that the coordinating directors of Large Taxpayers Group, Government and Medium Taxpayers Group, as well as Emerging Taxpayers Group had conveyed the decision of the management to all staff in the tax offices.

“As you are aware, the month of June marks the peak of the annual Companies Income Tax (CIT) filling season.

“Many taxpayers which financial year ends December 31, are expected to file their tax returns by June 30,” the agency stated.

According to the statement, the FIRS chairman, on assumption of office, reorganised tax operations for ease of tax payment. This has led the transformation of the agency from merely being a tax-collecting entity to a service-providing body.

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited regained 1.63 per cent on Wednesday as banks began to update the investing community on their plans to exit the forbearance regime of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

A few days ago, the banking sector regulator suspended the payment of dividend to shareholders, issuance of bonuses to directors and investment in foreign subsidiaries until affected financial institutions cleaned up their balance sheet.

The prospect of not receiving dividends triggered sell-offs in banking equities and other Nigerian stocks on Monday and Tuesday, but after banks began to assure shareholders of exiting the regime this year, tension started to calm.

Business Post observed that apart from the consumer goods index, which depreciated by 0.16 per cent, every other sector closed higher at midweek.

The energy space grew by 7.49 per cent, the commodity counter appreciated by 5.63 per cent, the banking sector rose by 3.25 per cent, the insurance industry went up by 2.02 per cent, and the industrial goods space improved by 0.09 per cent.

As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 1,876.71 points to settle at 116,786.87 points compared with Tuesday’s 114,910.16 points and the market capitalisation soared by N1.184 trillion to N73.681 trillion from N72.497 trillion.

A total of 640.1 million shares valued at N26.0 billion exchanged hands in 19,727 deals during the session versus the 721.8 million shares worth N22.0 billion transacted in 22,100 deals a day earlier, indicating a decline in the trading volume and number of deals by 11.32 per cent and 10.74 per cent, respectively, and a rise in the trading value by 18.18 per cent.

Zenith Bank topped the activity chart on Wednesday with 149.9 million stocks sold for N7.2 billion, Access Holdings traded 48.6 million equities worth N1.0 billion, UBA transacted 43.0 million shares valued at N1.5 billion, Nigerian Breweries exchanged 37.7 million stocks for N2.2 billion, and Fidelity Bank traded 30.8 million equities worth N568.5 million.

The biggest price gainer for the day was NEM Insurance with a 10.00 per cent growth to sell for N16.50, Beta Glass firmed up by 9.99 per cent to N250.95, Seplat Energy appreciated by 9.78 per cent to N5,450.00, Thomas Wyatt grew by 9.73 per cent to N2.03, and Linkage Assurance increased by 9.56 per cent to N1.49.

Eterna suffered the heaviest loss after it crumbled by 10.00 per cent to N38.70, Secure Electronic Technology dropped 9.68 per cent to trade at 56 Kobo, Legend Internet lost 9.66 per cent to quote at N6.55, FTN Cocoa declined by 6.07 per cent to N2.63, and Guinea Insurance slipped by 5.00 per cent to 76 Kobo.

At the close of transactions, Customs Street recorded 38 price gainers and 30 price losers, implying a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.

By Adedapo Adesanya

Oil prices remained elevated on Wednesday as investors continued to weigh the chances of supply disruptions from the Iran-Israel conflict and potential direct involvement of the United States.

Brent crude gained 25 cents to close at $76.70 per barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose by 30 cents to trade at $75.14 a barrel.

Earlier in the session, prices were down around 2 per cent, but they picked up yet again following new developments in the Iran-Israel issue.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected US President Donald Trump’s demand for unconditional surrender, as Mr Trump said his patience had run out but did not indicate what his next step would be and later declined to say whether he had made any decision on joining Israel’s bombing campaign against arch-enemy Iran.

“I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do,” he said, adding that Iranian officials had reached out about negotiations, including a possible meeting at the White House but quickly noted that, “it’s very late to be talking.”

Analysts warned that direct US involvement would widen the conflict, putting energy infrastructure in the region at higher risk of attack especially one that could lead to the shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz.

ING analysts said in a note that such could lead to significant disruption enough to push prices to $120 (a barrel) since more than 30 per cent of global seaborne oil trade moves through the chokepoint.

Iran is third-largest producer in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), extracting about 3.3 million barrels per day of crude oil.

The US Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday and policymakers signaled borrowing costs are still likely to fall this year.  Lower interest rates generally boost economic growth and demand for oil.

However, there are worries about higher inflation flowing from the President Trump administration’s tariff plans.

In US supply, crude stocks fell by 11.5 million barrels to 420.9 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday. By contrast, the American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday had estimated a 10.133-million-barrel drop for the week ending June 13.