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Economy

Banks to Begin Dollar Loans as Naira Soars

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By Modupe Gbadeyanka

There are strong indications that Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) in the country will soon begin to raise Dollar-denominated loans, particularly Eurobonds, as the Naira keeps on increasing in value.

Punch gathered that banks were currently positively arranged to raise Dollar loans taking after the making of the Investor and Exporters FX window by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the subsequent appreciation of the Naira.

Another reason the banks are thinking about Eurobonds, according to top banking sources, is on the grounds that some of them are taking a look at re-negotiating their dollar loans, which will soon begin falling due.

The top bank official stated, “Many banks must choose between limited options than to raise dollar loans or Eurobonds incompletely to re-negotiate their Eurobonds falling due, or to exploit the gratefulness in the naira value to raise dollar funding.”

While Guaranty Trust Bank Plc’s $400m Eurobond is expected in November, Fidelity Bank Plc’s $300m is expected next May. Access Bank Plc has $350m of bonds due in July.

GTBank has said it has no arrangements to issue new Eurobonds, yet Fidelity Bank and Access Bank presently can’t seem to choose.

Monetary and financial expert concur that the banks will begin to raise dollar-denominated loans.

All things being equal, more banks will issue Eurobonds in light of the fact that they require dollars to offer advances in the United States cash or to repay debt, an investigator at Vetiva Capital Management Limited, Mr Lekan Olabode, told Bloomberg, including that more banks would issue Eurobonds, in light of the fact that they required dollars to offer loans and to repay debt.

As of now, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated has said it is wanting to raise $400m five-year convertible security this month to renegotiate debt and provide short-term bridge funding to non-performing loans at its Nigerian unit.

Experts trust more banks will raise dollar credits this year and next year.

Officially, United Bank for Africa Plc has brought $500 million up in its first Eurobond deal.

It issued the bond on June 1. This took a comparable issue seven days prior by Zenith Bank Plc in an arrangement that was four times oversubscribed.

It is hard on putting a figure to what the normal dollar loans will be yet analyst trust that as the I and E FX window keeps on enhancing, more banks will exploit to raise additional dollar loans.

The CBN on Thursday said its currency window for investors had dealt with $2.2bn of exchange a month and a half.

It likewise said it represented just about 30 percent of the $2.2bn exchanges, adding this was intended to keep the window working.

The CBN had around 6 weeks back made the Investors and Exporters FX Window to attract foreign investors and at the same time maintain a strong currency to ward off inflation.

Experts have praised the activity as a stage in the correct direction.

In any case, some few experts, including a former Governor of the CBN, Prof Charles Soludo, said despite the fact that the activity, among others taken by the controller lately, had propelled the forex showcase by 10 stages, there was a need to find a way to get the economy to where it should be.

Source: Punch

Modupe Gbadeyanka is a fast-rising journalist with Business Post Nigeria. Her passion for journalism is amazing. She is willing to learn more with a view to becoming one of the best pen-pushers in Nigeria. Her role models are the duo of CNN's Richard Quest and Christiane Amanpour.

Economy

NASD Exchange Extends Bearish Run After 0.56% Drop

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NASD Exchange

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange extended its stay in the south territory with a decline of 0.56 per cent on Wednesday, April 2.

This brought down the market capitalisation by N13 billion to N2.417 trillion from N2.430 trillion, and downed the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 22.57 points to 4,062.87 points from the previous session’s 4,062.87 points.

It was observed that the NASD exchange ended with three price gainers and three price losers during the trading day.

MRS Oil Plc depreciated by N19.00 to close at N171.00 per unit compared with the previous price of N190.00 per unit, NASD Plc lost N4.14 to trade at N37.36 per share compared with Wednesday’s N41.50 per share, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gave up N2.00 to sell at N78.00 per unit versus N80.00 per unit.

On the flip side, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc appreciated by 19 Kobo to N93.00 per share from N92.81 per share, Food Concepts Plc expanded by 15 Kobo to N2.87 per unit from N2.72 per unit, and Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc improved by 2 Kobo to 52 Kobo per share from 50 Kobo per share.

Yesterday, the volume of securities dipped by 91.8 per cent to 260.2 million units from 3.2 billion units, the value of securities went down by 98.1 per cent to N154.2 million from N8.3 billion, while the number of deals soared by 53.3 per cent to 46 deals from 30 deals.

GNI Plc was the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 56.9 million units valued at N3.9 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.5 million units traded for N1.8 billion.

The most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was also GNI Plc with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.2 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units exchanged for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units transacted for N1.2 billion.

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Economy

Naira Slips to N1,380/$1 at Official Market, Remains N1,405/$1 at Black Market

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yuan-naira $10bn

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira dropped N2.09 or 0.15 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Thursday, April 2, to trade at N1,380.79/$1 compared with Wednesday’s rate of N1,378.70/$1.

However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N2.77 to quote at N1,824.86/£1 versus the N1,836.57/£1 it was traded at midweek, and improved its value against the Euro by N10.54 to N1,591.92/€1 from N1,602.46/€1.

Yesterday was the last trading session of the week for the local currency in the spot market, as the market will be closed on Friday and Monday for the Easter Holiday.

At the black market, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the greenback yesterday at N1,405/$1, but gained N8 at the GTBank FX counter to settle at N1,388/$1, in contrast to the previous session’s N1,396/$1.

Pressure eased on the domestic currency as strong policy indicators have helped calm the majority of worries within the financial systems. Particularly in the remittance segment, the apex bank has directed all International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) to route remittance transactions through designated Naira settlement accounts in banks, a move aimed at boosting transparency and channelling more foreign exchange into the formal market.

This helps take off pressure from the foreign reserves, which have fallen below the $50 billion mark as they are gradually decreasing rather than falling sharply.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was bullish on Thursday, as macro sentiment shifted against recent optimism after reports that Iran is drafting a protocol with Oman to manage traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, easing concerns about disruptions to a key global oil route.

The remarks came after U.S. President Trump on Wednesday night vowed to hit Iran “extremely hard” in the coming weeks and that the Strait of Hormuz would “open naturally” once the war ends.

Cardano (ADA) chalked up 1.9 per cent to trade at $0.2435, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 1.2 per cent to $0.0912, Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 0.8 per cent to $2,066.37, Bitcoin (BTC) added 0.5 per cent to sell at $67,080.53, Solana (SOL) increased by 0.5 per cent to $79.91, and Ripple (XRP) jumped 0.2 per cent to $1.31.

Conversely, Binance Coin (BNB) dipped 0.7 per cent to $586.90, and TRON (TRX) depreciated by 0.3 per cent to $0.3147, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.

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Economy

Bulls, Bears Share Customs Street’s Spoils Amid Bullish Investor Sentiment

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customs street

By Dipo Olowookere

The local stock market was relatively flat on Friday, as the bears and the bulls shared the spoils of war, though investor sentiment turned bullish compared with the preceding session’s bearish posture.

Data from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited showed that the All-Share Index (ASI) was marginally down by 4.66 points as it ended at 201,698.89 points versus Wednesday’s 201,703.55 points, and the market capitalisation slightly contracted by N3 billion to N129.806 trillion from N129.809 trillion.

Customs Street was shut on Friday because of the public holidays declared by the federal government today and next Monday.

Business Post reports that John Holt declined by 9.91 per cent to N15.45, Abbey Mortgage Bank shed 9.60 per cent to trade at N8.95, International Energy Insurance slipped by 6.48 per cent to N3.32, Chams shrank by 5.30 per cent to N3.75, and Tantalizers depreciated by 5.18 per cent to N4.03.

On the flip side, Unilever Nigeria improved by 10.00 per cent to N103.40, Fortis Global Insurance gained 9.82 per cent to trade at N1.23, Multiverse appreciated 9.81 per cent to N20.15, Legend Internet advanced by 9.38 per cent to N6.30, and Zichis grew by 9.02 per cent to N14.14.

The market breadth index was positive during the trading session, as there were 35 appreciating stocks and 24 depreciating stocks.

Yesterday, investors traded 560.0 million equities valued at N19.3 billion in 49,676 deals, in contrast to the 815.5 million equities worth N33.3 billion transacted in 52,641 deals in the preceding day, representing a drop in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 31.33 per cent, 42.04 per cent, and 5.63 per cent, respectively.

Secure Electronic Technology dominated the activity log with 59.7 million shares valued at N61.1 million, Wema Bank exchanged 52.0 million equities worth N1.4 billion, VFD Group transacted 36.0 million stocks for N410.5 million, Access Holdings sold 35.3 million shares valued at N914.8 million, and Chams traded 31.0 million equities worth N115.0 million.

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