Crude Oil Gives up Early Gains to Close Lower Monday

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a further rise of 0.55 per cent, extending its stay in the green territory to a fourth straight session on Thursday, November 7. This increased the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 4.81 points to wrap the session at 872.54 points compared with 867.73 points in the previous session, as the market capitalisation of the OTC exchange jumped by N6.52 billion to settle at N1.182 trillion, in contrast to the preceding trading day’s N1.176 trillion. The unlisted securities market ended the trading session with two price gainers, 11 Plc and

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil prices fell further on Thursday touching a six-month low, as investors worried about sluggish energy demand in the United States and China. Brent crude futures dropped 48 cents to $73.82 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell by 33 cents to $69.05 per barrel, with both benchmarks posting their lowest prices since late June. Analysts noted that the largest global importer of oil, China, is shuttering its interests in crude and this has created pressure on prices. Chinese customs data showed that crude oil imports in November fell 9 per cent

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited depreciated by 0.49 per cent on Thursday, driven by selling pressure on banking equities, especially those in the tier-1 category. The likes of GTCO, FBN Holdings, Access Holdings witnessed sell-offs during the trading session, contributing to the weak investor sentiment observed at the Nigerian stock market. According to data obtained by Business Post, the NGX ended with 29 price losers and 24 price gainers, indicating a negative market breadth index. FBN Holdings ended as the heaviest price decliner after it shed 9.86 per cent to settle at N26.50, Secure Electronic Technology fell

By Aduragbemi Omiyale One of the players in the personal healthcare and consumer goods sectors, PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc, has published a list of its shareholders with unclaimed dividends. Unclaimed dividends are cash rewards given to investors, mainly from the profits from the company’s operations, but are yet to be collected by the beneficiaries. This has been a major source of sleepless nights for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is working to bring down the number of unclaimed dividends. It has been reported that the value of unclaimed dividends in the nation’s stock market is over N185 billion.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A total turnover of 2.518 billion shares worth N114.117 billion in 23,546 deals were traded this week by investors on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in contrast to a total of 2.211 billion shares valued at N30.636 billion that exchanged hands last week in 26,287 deals. During the week, the Financial Services Industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 1.507 billion shares valued at N16.354 billion traded in 12,511 deals; thus contributing 59.85 percent and 14.33 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The Industrial Goods Industry followed with

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday has revealed that in the first quarter of 2017, Federal Government generated the sum of N204.77 billion from Value Added Tax (VAT). This, the agency explained, is in contrast to the N207.35 billion generated in the fourth quarter of 2016 and N186.43 billion in first quarter of 2016. According to the NBS, the figures represent 1.25 percent decrease Quarter-on-Quarter and 9.84 percent increase Year-on-Year. In the report titled ‘Sectoral Distribution of Value Added Tax – Q1 2017,’ the NBS said the sector, which generated the highest

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) has announced an investment of approximately €300 million to convert the cigarette factory of Papastratos, PMI’s affiliate in Greece, into a manufacturing plant for the tobacco sticks to be used with its smoke-free product IQOS. These tobacco sticks are currently commercialized as Heets or HeatSticks. Since the equipment necessary to manufacture tobacco sticks for IQOS is larger than that required for cigarette manufacturing, the current facility area will be expanded. Once fully operational, the plant will have an annual capacity of around 20 billion tobacco sticks. The investment will create 400 new

By Adedapo Adesanya Crude oil ended positive on Tuesday as geopolitical tensions and tight global supplies supported the market after dropping in earlier sessions ahead of the meeting of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, together known as OPEC+. During the session, the Brent crude climbed 36 cents or 0.4 per cent to $89.52 per barrel while the United States West Texas Intermediate crude was up by 38 cents or 0.4 per cent to sell at $88.58 a barrel. Recently, crude benchmarks hit their highest prices since October 2014, with Brent touching $91.70 and US crude hitting

By Modupe Gbadeyanka In line with the latest standard of the Global Reporting Initiative’s G4, Lafarge Africa Plc has announced the launch of its 2015 sustainability report, which is aimed at increasing the company’s level of transparency in sharing its sustainable development performance with stakeholders. The unveiling of the report took place at the grand finale of the third edition of the Lafarge Africa National Literacy Competition in Lagos. According to the Managing Director of Lafarge Africa, Mr Michel Puchercos, the company was driven by the ambition to set new standards and help transform the way the industry works. Mr

One of the highlights of November every year is the Zenith Xmas lights on Ajose Adeogun Street, Victoria Island, Lagos. This artistic creation can only be synonymous with one brand and that is Zenith Bank. The lights remind residents of Lagos that the joyous season of Xmas is fast approaching and several people rush to Victoria Island just to experience this marvel. Last year, the number of people who came to see the lights was unprecedented. More so, the decorations were simply breath-taking that people could not hold their joy as they brought their families to experience the magical moment.

By Adedapo Adesanya The federal government has pegged the exchange rate at N410.15/$1 and the crude oil benchmark at $57 per barrel for the 2022 budget it is planning to submit to the National Assembly for approval. The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, confirmed this on Monday at an interactive session organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Finance on the 2022-2024 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) in Abuja. Mrs Ahmed noted that the perception of the naira as being overvalued despite recent adjustment by the Central Bank of Nigeria

By Atedo Peterside Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, As part of their 14th Daily Trust Dialogue, the management of Daily Trust requested a presentation from me on “BEYOND RECESSION: TOWARDS A RESILIENT ECONOMY”. My focus will be on “Towards a resilient economy”, because virtually all the actions and policies that are required to help build a resilient economy are the exact same ones that will naturally take Nigeria well beyond today’s economic recession and unto a path of rapid and sustainable economic growth. If you aim for the skies you might end up at the ceiling. Likewise, if you do what