Economy
Buying Interest in Nestle Nigeria, Others Jerks Index Higher by 0.71%
By Dipo Olowookere
The last trading session in the first half of 2021 ended on a positive note as the stock market appreciated by 0.71 per cent following buying interest in Nestle Nigeria, Oando and others.
At the market on Wednesday, the All-Share Index (ASI) improved by 266.53 points to 37,907.28 points from 37,640.75 points, while the market capitalisation went up by N138 billion to N19.760 trillion from N19.622 trillion.
Business Post observed that the consumer goods sector mainly lifted the market yesterday as the counter recorded a 4.80 per cent growth, followed by the energy index with 0.70 per cent growth.
However, the banking and insurance sectors went down by 10.00 per cent respectively, while the industrial goods counter closed flat.
Nestle Nigeria recorded the highest price gain, growing by 10.00 per cent to sell at N1540.00 and trailed by Ikeja Hotel, which improved by 9.92 per cent to N1.33.
Oando appreciated by 9.67 per cent to N3.29, Lasaco Assurance gained 9.49 per cent to trade at N1.50, while Linkage Assurance improved by 9.09 per cent to 84 kobo.
Conversely, BOC Gases ended the session with the biggest loss, going down by 10.00 per cent to sell for N8.55 and was trailed by Sovereign Trust Insurance, which went down by 7.14 per cent to trade at 26 kobo.
PZ Cussons depreciated by 7.08 per cent to quote at N5.25, Regency Assurance dropped 6.12 per cent to close at 46 kobo, while Courtville fell by 4.76 per cent to 20 kobo.
In terms of the level of activity, the trading value increased by 18.37 per cent to N3.2 billion from N2.7 billion, the trading volume reduced by 6.68 per cent to 213.7 million stocks from 229.0 million stocks, while the number of deals dropped 4.24 per cent to 3,522 deals from 3,678 deals.
Wema Bank was the most traded stock yesterday with the sale of 18.3 million units worth N10.9 million and was followed by Oando, which transacted 15.6 million units valued at N47.8 million.
Mutual Benefits Assurance transacted 15.1 million shares for N6.3 million, Access Bank sold 13.7 million shares valued at N116.6 million, while UBA traded 13.6 million equities worth N99.0 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
