Economy
Banking Equities Crash NGX Index to 51,778.08 points
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited suffered one of its heaviest losses in recent times on Friday as it depreciated by 1.21 per cent as banking equities struggled to get patronage.
Yesterday, holders of stocks in the banking sector, especially those desperate to liquidate their holdings, lowered their prices to attract buyers but this strategy did not work as investors remain cautious of the macroeconomic environment and are limiting their exposure to the equity market.
The absence of a positive trigger weakened the All Share Index (ASI) by 633.01 points during the session to 51,778.08 points to 52,411.09 points and depleted the market capitalisation by N341 billion to N27.914 trillion from N28.255 trillion.
Business Post reports that the loss was across the main sectors of the exchange, with the banking counter the most hit as it fell by 2.31 per cent, followed by the consumer goods index, which dropped 0.64 per cent. The energy space lost 0.58 per cent, the insurance index went down by 0.24 per cent, while the industrial goods landscape declined by 0.01 per cent.
Only 10 equities gained points on the last trading day of the week as 24 stocks shed weight, with McNichols as the worst hit after its value went down by 9.76 per cent to N1.85.
Ardova lost 9.70 per cent to settle at N13.50, Livestock Feeds depreciated by 9.52 per cent to N1.33, International Breweries shed 9.42 per cent to sell for N6.25, while Courteville retreated by 9.26 per cent to 49 kobo.
Conversely, Ellah Lakes topped the gainers’ log with a price appreciation of 8.40 per cent to quote at N4.00, UAC Nigeria chalked up 6.48 per cent to trade at N11.50, Livingtrust Mortgage Bank appreciated by 5.26 per cent to N1.20, Mutual Benefits Assurance rose by 4.17 per cent to 25 kobo, while Fidelity Bank added 3.37 per cent to its value to sell for N3.37.
Jaiz Bank ended the session as the most traded stock with 40.7 million units sold for N37.2 million. UBA exchanged 35.7 million units for N269.4 million, Zenith Bank traded 33.2 million units worth N719.0 million, GTCO transacted 16.8 million units valued at N359.7 million, while Transcorp traded 10.9 million units valued at N14.0 million.
At the close of business, investors bought and sold 241.2 million shares worth N3.7 billion in 5,043 deals compared with the 211.6 million shares worth N2.4 billion transacted in 4,750 deals a day earlier, indicating an increase in the trading volume, value and number of deals by 13.98 per cent, 54.96 per cent and 6.17 per cent respectively.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) says the rollout of electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) will strengthen tax compliance, curb revenue leakages and improve transparency in tax administration as it moves to fully digitise the country’s tax system.
The Project Lead for the NRS e-Invoicing Project, Mr Mohammed Bawa, stated this at the DigiTax E-Invoicing Compliance Breakfast Session held in Lagos on Wednesday.
The event, organised by DigiTax, an NRS-accredited e-invoicing platform, formed part of efforts to support the agency’s ongoing education and sensitisation campaign on the e-invoicing mandate.
Mr Bawa said the initiative aligns with global trends in tax digitisation and is expected to help improve Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio, which remains one of the lowest in Africa.
According to him, the system will provide the NRS with greater visibility into transactions across sectors, formalise activities within the informal economy and standardise invoice formats nationwide using globally recognised invoice schemas.
He added that e-invoicing would improve operational efficiency for both businesses and tax authorities while supporting the NRS’ transition from manual and electronic tax administration processes to a fully automated system-to-system interaction model.
Mr Bawa noted that the legal framework for implementation is backed by the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, which prescribes penalties for non-compliance.
He disclosed that the NRS has completed onboarding large taxpayers and is preparing to enforce compliance with defaulting entities.
According to him, medium taxpayers are expected to begin compliance in the third quarter of 2026, while onboarding of emerging taxpayers will commence in 2027, with full adoption targeted for all taxpayers by the end of 2028.
Mr Bawa urged taxpayers yet to be onboarded onto the platform to begin the process and work with accredited service providers to ensure compliance.
On his part, Country Director of DigiTax Nigeria, Mr Olumide Akinsola, urged businesses to look beyond their internal systems and assess the compliance status of suppliers and counterparties.
He warned that businesses whose suppliers fail to transmit invoices through the MBS platform risk losing eligibility to claim Value Added Tax (VAT) input credits on such transactions, describing the resulting supply chain exposure as a significant commercial risk that many organisations have yet to quantify.
Mr Akinsola also announced the launch of DigiTax’s white paper, The State of E-Invoicing Readiness in Nigeria, which examines compliance adoption trends and the readiness gap across different taxpayer segments.
He added that DigiTax operates in Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), noting that experience from those markets shows businesses that integrate early are better positioned to avoid disruptions when enforcement begins.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The names of about 100,000 companies registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) are about to be deleted for inactivity, especially for failing to file their annual tax returns, Business Post reports.
This information was disclosed by the CAC via a notice signed by its management on Wednesday, July 15, 2026.
The list contains organisations like the Nigeria-Poland Chamber of Trade Invest Ltd, Alariwo of Afrika Ltd, Ovation Sports International, First Union Pension Fund Administrators, Investopedia Limited, Baptist High School Abuja Ltd, and Yobe Aluminium Manufacturing Industries Ltd, amongst others.
In the statement, the commission said its decision to strike off the names of the affected firms from the register aligns with the provisions of Section 692(3) (3) and (4) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), 2020.
However, the affected companies can still salvage the situation by filing all outstanding annual returns and regularising their records within 90 days.
“Please note that companies that fail to comply within the stipulated timeline shall be struck off the register without further notice,” it declared, expressing its continued commitment to providing prompt and efficient registration and regulatory services to the satisfaction of its valued customers.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange gained 1.75 per cent on Wednesday, July 15, pushing the NASD Security Index (NSI) up by 74.20 points to 4,316.51 points from 4,242.31 points, as the market capitalisation added N44.54 billion to finish at N2.590 trillion compared with the preceding session’s N2.546 trillion.
During the session, there was an 11.5 per cent rise in the value of transactions at midweek to N72.7 million from the preceding session’s N65.2 million, as there was a 3.7 per cent growth in the number of deals to 28 deals from the previous session’s 27 deals, while the volume of securities slumped by 64.5 per cent to 4.9 million units from 13.7 million units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc ended as the most active security by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, with the second spot occupied by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc after selling 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and the third position was taken by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which exchanged 74.3 million units for N5.3 billion.
GNI Plc also finished the trading day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with a turnover of 3.4 billion units traded for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units sold for N415.7 million.
Business Post reports that the market breadth index was negative yesterday, as there were two price gainers and three price losers.
11 Plc added N22.36 to its value to close at N250.00 per share versus N227.64 per share, and CSCS Plc improved by N7.95 to N90.35 per unit from N82.40 per unit.
On the flip side, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N1.37 to end at N150.00 per share versus N151.37 per share, UBN Property Plc depreciated by 6 Kobo to N1.75 per unit from N1.81 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc dropped 1 Kobo to close at N2.49 per share versus N2.50 per share.
