Dangote Cement: Strong Q3-17 Result, Slight Downward Revision of Estimates

By Dipo Olowookere Profit-taking activities brought back the bears to the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Monday as investors rebalanced their portfolios. It was observed that traders at Customs Street booked profits in shares mostly in the industrial goods sectors like BUA Cement and Lafarge Africa. This resultantly brought down the local stock market by 0.66 per cent at the close of transactions, with the industrial goods space losing 4.21 per cent, the insurance counter declining by 0.28 per cent, and the energy sector falling by 0.01 per cent. However, the consumer goods index improved yesterday by

By Adedapo Adesanya Bitmama Incorporated, a crypto exchange company, has confirmed the acquisition of Payday, a virtual card service provider. According to reports, the chief executive of Bitmama, Mrs Ruth Iselema, has offered PayDay investors $1 million worth of equity in the crypto company at a $30 million valuation. The news comes barely nine months after Payday announced its $3 million seed round and three months after its exploration of sale options was confirmed. Facilitated through Bitmama’s cross-border payments product, Changera, the acquisition marks a pivotal shift from earlier speculations, including a potential acquisition by lead investor, Moniepoint. Changera is

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) has expressed its readiness to partner with the Lekki Deep Seaport by promoting the seamless movement of cargo and the efficiency of the nation’s ports. The NSC Executive Secretary, Mr Pius Akutah, gave the assurance when the Managing Director, Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise Limited (LPLEL) – promoters of Lekki Deep Seaport, Mr Du Ruogang, led the port’s management on a courtesy visit to the NSC in Lagos. Mr Akutah, who commended the Lekki Deep Seaport management for the visit, said the council would partner with the port in areas that would boost

By Adedapo Adesanya The trio of Newrest Asl Plc, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, and Acorn Petroleum Plc made the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange appreciate by 0.14 per cent on Friday, December 1. The three gainers pressed down the 8 Kobo loss reported by UBN Property Plc, which closed the trading session at N1.52 per unit compared with the preceding day’s value of N1.60 per unit. During the trading day, Newrest Plc gained N1.46 to close at N16.10 per share compared with Thursday’s closing price of N14.64 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Plc moved up by 60 Kobo to end the

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The management of Lagos Business School (LBS) has commenced the process of building an International Management Research Centre to be named after the late Nigerian technocrat and administrator, Mr Gamaliel Onosode. To mark the occasion, a sod-turning ceremony was held at the centre’s construction premises at the Lagos Business School on Wednesday, November 29, 2017. LBS received a generous donation from the Onosode family, on behalf of the Gamaliel and Susan Onosode Foundation (GAMSU), for the research centre project. The foundation is a non-profit and non-political organization, set out to provide the enabling environment for the success

By Modupe Gbadeyanka More than 3,500 Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)-licenced Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators under the aegis of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (AMCON) will meet in Lagos on Wednesday, January 10, 2018. The forex traders will hold the meeting at the Gloval Hall, Lagos to discuss key challenges facing the sector especially on rate convergence for banks and BDCs s well as rising bank charges on BDCs’ transactions. According to president of ABCON, Mr Aminu Gwadabe, negative margins being experienced by BDCs, review of annual license renewal in view of the number of the BDCs, and

By Dipo Olowookere The weak macroeconomic environment in Nigeria has continued to exert pressure on the banking system, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has emphasised. This is in spite of the resilience shown by the banking industry in Nigeria since the country slipped into recession last year. In 2016, majority of financial institutions in Nigeria declared profit despite many firms declaring loses. But at the end of its meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, the MPC warned that the sector, which is very critical to the economy, was still under pressure. The committee advised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which

By Adedapo Adesanya Lagos State has the highest rent index among selected cities in Africa, a new index from Numbeo seen by Business Post shows. In its Africa: Cost of Living Index by City 2023 rankings, Lagos scored 56.0 points, higher than other advanced cities on the continent like Dakar in Senegal (22.2 points), Abidjan in Cote D’Ivoire (17.0 points), Accra in Ghana (15.7 points), as well as South African cities of Cape Town (20.4 points), Pretoria (12.4), and Johannesburg (13.7) among others. Rent has been an issue for many Nigerians who pay as low as N300,000 per annum for

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has revealed that its three refineries reported a combined operating loss of N154 billion, with the Kaduna refinery bringing in zero revenue in 2018. This was contained in the national oil company’s audited financial statements for 2018 published on its website in a bid to improve transparency around its operations. The NNPC has been criticised for years of mismanaging Nigeria’s oil business which it does by publishing only unaudited financial reports. The statements published on the company’s website on Friday were for 2018 and were signed by the Group Managing Director,

By Dipo Olowookere Shareholders of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) have approved the payment of N3.5 billion proposed by the board of the firm. This dividend payment amounts to 70 kobo per share for the 2017 business year. The approval was given at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of CSCS Plc held on Monday, May 28, 2018 in Lagos. During the meeting, the shareholders commended the board and management of CSCS for rewarding them. They charged them to continue to do more. However, the shareholders expressed worry that the funding of the Investment and Securities Tribunal (IST) was not equally

By Dipo Olowookere Investor sentiment on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited was strong on Monday, but losses posted by Airtel Africa and four others plunged the bourse into a 2.53 per cent loss at the close of trades. Airtel Africa lost 10.00 per cent yesterday to settle at N1,620.00, Sovereign Trust Insurance fell by 7.14 per cent to trade at 26 Kobo, AIICO Insurance depreciated by 7.02 per cent to 53 Kobo, Dangote Sugar went down by 2.80 per cent to N15.60, and Fidson decreased by 2.51 per cent to N8.94. The poor performances of these equities outweighed the positive

By Dipo Olowookere The Burundian government has been charged to take prompt and effective action to protect civilians, including allowing the immediate admission of a UN police contingent to monitor the security and human rights situation in the country. This appeal was made by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). CERD expressed deep concern regarding a Civil Service questionnaire issued on November 8 that asks public servants to state their ethnicity. The fact that armed militia are openly intimidating people demonstrates, “the unwillingness or the inability of the Government to protect civilians,” the Committee wrote in