Bears Run Away With Stock Investors’ N57bn After Profit-Taking

By Dipo Olowookere Shares of MeCure Industries appreciated by 60.73 per cent last week on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited as investors began to see value in the company. Business Post reports that in the week, the price of the stock closed at N9.21 per unit compared with the preceding week’s N5.73 per unit, leading the gainers’ chart of 59 members, higher than 54 of the preceding week. On its part, Multiverse rose by 60.06 per cent to N5.81, Unity Bank improved by 57.26 per cent to N1.84, Secure Electronic Technology jumped by 52.78 per cent to

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira depreciated in the opening session of the week in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Monday, November 27 against the Dollar by N19.71 or 2.5 per cent as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Olayemi Cardoso, said the lender was committed to clearing a backlog of foreign exchange (forex). “We have initiated the payment of unsettled forward foreign exchange obligations, and these payments will continue until all obligations are cleared,” he told bankers last Friday during a dinner speech in Lagos. However, his assurance could not ease the pressure

By Adedapo Adesanya The duo of Aradel Holdings Plc and 11 Plc landed the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange in the green territory by 0.84 per cent on Monday, November 27. The two energy stocks overpowered losses posted by two other securities admitted to the alternative stock exchange, leaving the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) closing higher by 7.22 points to 864.51 basis points from 857/29 points, as the market capitalisation of the exchange increased by N9.78 billion to N1.171 trillion from N1.162 trillion. Aradel Holdings Plc saw its share price continue to soar as it rose by N28.80 to

By Dipo Olowookere The positive momentum witnessed at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited continued on Monday with a 0.17 per cent leap at the close of business. Buying pressure, particularly in a few blue-chip equities, kept the bulls at Customs Street during the trading session, though the consumer goods space succumbed to profit-taking by 0.99 per cent. But hope was kept alive by the gains reported by the other key sectors of the market, with the banking counter growing by 1.71 per cent, and the industrial goods index appreciating by 0.01 per cent, while the insurance and energy sectors remained

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Seven Nigerian banks have received the National Scale Ratings (NSRs) by world’s rating agency, Moody’s Investors Services. The financial institutions are the Bank of Industry (BoI), GTBank, Zenith Bank, Access Bank, First Bank, United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) and Sterling Bank. A statement from Moody’s noted that this rating action follows the publication of new national scale rating maps for Nigeria, Kenya and Morocco, which provide a measure of relative creditworthiness within a single country; and are derived from global scale ratings using country-specific maps. An A1.ng/NG-1 national scale local currency deposit ratings was assigned to

By Ahmed Rahma The first batch of the COVID-19 vaccines produced by AstraZeneca in conjunction with the Oxford University, the United Kingdom, has arrived in Nigeria, one of the presidential aides, Mr Bashir Ahmad, has announced. Nigeria had been expecting to receive almost 4 million doses of the vaccine on Tuesday for free, according to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha, from the World Health Organisation (WHO). In a tweet this morning via his official Twitter handle, Mr Ahmad disclosed that the drugs came into the country through the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja

By Ahmed Rahma Six new modern custodial facilities are to be established by the federal government in all the geo-political zones of the country. This is part of the efforts of the federal government to transform the correctional services to enhance operations and mould inmates to useful members of the society after serving their terms. The Minister of Interior, Mr Rauf Aregbesola, while inspecting the ongoing Model Maximum Security Custodial facility project in Janguza, Kumbotso Local Government Area of Kano State, said the government was determined to reform the correctional service in Nigeria. According to him, the establishment of the

By Dipo Olowookere Reports have it that officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have raided the residence of former governor of Lagos State, Mr Akinwumi Ambode, in the Epe area of the metropolis. It was anti-graft agency stormed the house in a commando style and allegedly began to search for some items. According to the reports, spokesman of the EFCC, Mr Tony Orilade, who confirmed that the agency’s officials were at the residence of the former Governor on Tuesday, stressed that it was part of an ongoing investigation into a matter involving the former Governor. Business Post

By Modupe Gbadeyanka One of the major players in the confectionary and beverages markets in the country, Cadbury Nigeria Plc, has released its financial statements for the period ended June 30, 2017. The firm, in the financial results, declared a loss of N766.4 million in both its pre and post-tax profits for the period under review. This is in contrast to N216.4 million gained achieved 12 months ago in its pre-tax profit and N147.2 billion profit after tax recorded a year ago by the firm. However, during the period, Cadbury Nigeria raised its revenue to N16.3 billion against N13.9 billion

By Dipo Olowookere The management of Japaul Oil & Maritime Services Plc is already intensifying efforts to source for the N27 billion it requires to finance its newfound love, mining business. One of its core services, crude exploration and production, has been dull lately because of the global health crisis caused by COVID-19. This virus initially plunged the price of crude oil to around $20 per barrel at a point this year before it later stabilised to around $40 per barrel. In order not to have its operations badly affected and then chased out of business, Japaul Oil is looking

The role of culture and tourism in boosting the economy of Nigeria has been highlighted by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed. The Minister said the tourism sector has the potentials of addressing the challenges posed by lean resources and unemployment in the country. Speaking at the Third Festival Colloquium of Lagos at 50 on Saturday, Alhaji Mohammed said the potentials of the sector in boosting the country’s economy had been attested to by many international agencies, including the British Council, whose 2013 report of the Lagos Pilot Study on the ‘Mapping of Nigerian Creative Industries revealed

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A consumer electronic reward system called CashToken has been launched by Heritage Bank Plc in partnership with CeLD Innovations. The product was launched at the Hyper Consumer Centricity conference held at the Lagos Continental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos with top 500 Nigerian CEOs in attendance. The CashToken is an electronic reward and celebratory gift commodity, which costs only N30 and is aimed at making every patronage or celebratory gift a life-changing cash opportunity. Speaking at the unveiling ceremony, Mr Jude Monye, Executive Director of Heritage Bank said CeLD is a very innovative organisation that is committed to