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Demutualisation: Nigerian Exchange Group Plc to Register 2.5 Billion Shares

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NSE Demutualisation

By Adedapo Adesanya

There was excitement on Tuesday in Lagos when 257 members unanimously voted for the demutualisation of the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) at the Court Ordered Meeting (COM).

This also gave the exchange the authority to register a total share capital of N1.250 billion, comprising 2,500 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

The 257 members who voted for the demutualisation constituted 251 members by proxy and six by self, and this means that the 60-year old bourse will be converted to a public limited liability company, the 57th exchange in the world to follow the path.

To be re-registered as the Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, there will be a transfer of its securities exchange license and other assets required to carry out the securities function to Nigerian Exchange Limited.

This means there will also be an establishment of a separate subsidiary company to be charged with the regulatory functions of the exchange post-demutualisation to be called NGX Regulation Limited.

It was disclosed that there will be allotment of 1,964,115,918 ordinary shares to Dealing Members and Ordinary Members on the basis of a ratio of 78:22, respectively.

The provision of Claims Review Shares totalling 40,083,999 ordinary shares, representing 2 percent of the Issued Shares of Nigerian Exchange Group will be set aside for allotment to parties who are adjudged as being entitled to shares in the demutualised exchange

The demutualisation, upon completion, will see the transfer of the assets of NSE Consult Limited, NSE Nominees Limited and Coral Properties Limited, the subsidiaries of the NSE to the Nigerian Exchange Group Plc.

After the end of the court ordered meeting, an Extraordinary General Meeting was held to set up a 12-man board of directors ffor the Nigerian Exchange Group Plc.

Those nominated and appointed were Mr Abimbola Ogunbanjo, Chairman and Non-Executive Director; Mr Oscar Onyema, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director; Mr Umaru Kwairanga, Member and Non-Executive Director; Mrs Fatimah Bintah Bello-Ismail, Member and Non-Executive Director; Mr Oluwole Adeosun, Member and Non-Executive Director; Mr Chidi Agbapu, Member and Non-Executive Director; Mr Patrick Ajayi, Member and Non-Executive Director; and Mr Okechukwu Crescent Itanyi, Member and Independent Non-Executive Director.

Others included Mrs Nimi Akinkugbe, Member and Independent Non-Executive Director; Mr Enase Okonedo, Member and Independent Non-Executive Director; Mr Ikpobe Apollos Oghooritsewarami, Member and Independent Non-Executive Director; and Mrs Ojinika Nkechinyelu Olaghere, Member and Independent Non-Executive Director.

According to the CEO, Mr Oscar Onyema, “Today’s meetings move the demutualization process significantly forward and the positive outcomes affirm the great interest from members to support the pivotal restructuring of the exchange to become globally competitive.”

“In furtherance of our plans, we will move to file the necessary resolutions from the court ordered meeting and all other required documents at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), obtain the Court Order sanctioning of the Scheme, complete all necessary registrations and seek the final approval from the SEC to ultimately demutualise,” he added.

On his part, the President of the National Council and now inaugural Chairman post-demutualisation, Mr Abimbola Ogunbanjo, who presides over meetings expressed his pleasure at the outcome.

“I feel elated that 19 years after initiating the process to demutualize and on the 60th anniversary of the Exchange, we are close to achieving the goal.

“The successful demutualization of the Exchange was one of my main objectives when I assumed the Presidency of the Exchange and I am particularly happy it has been achieved during the life time of one of its founding fathers, Pa Akintola Williams.

“In telling the story of how we have achieved this milestone, we recognize the efforts of several actors involved in this project – including the management and staff of The Exchange, our members, professional advisers, the Federal Government of Nigeria, the SEC, and other capital market stakeholders, without whom it could not have become a reality.”

Adedapo Adesanya is a journalist, polymath, and connoisseur of everything art. When he is not writing, he has his nose buried in one of the many books or articles he has bookmarked or simply listening to good music with a bottle of beer or wine. He supports the greatest club in the world, Manchester United F.C.

Economy

Nigerian Stocks Close 1.13% Higher to Remain in Bulls’ Territory

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Nigerian Stocks1

By Dipo Olowookere

The local stock market firmed up by 1.13 per cent on Friday as appetite for Nigerian stocks remained strong.

Investors reacted well to the 2026 budget presentation of President Bola Tinubu to the National Assembly yesterday, especially because of the more realistic crude oil benchmark of $64 per barrel compared with the ambitious $75 per barrel for 2025. This year, prices have been between $60 and $65 per barrel.

Business Post observed profit-taking in the commodity and energy sectors as they respectively shed 0.14 per cent and 0.03 per cent.

But, bargain-hunting in the others sustained the positive run, with the consumer goods index up by 3.82 per cent.

Further, the industrial goods space appreciated by 1.46 per cent, the banking counter improved by 0.08 per cent, and the insurance industry gained 0.04 per cent.

As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1,694.33 points to 152,057.38 points from 150,363.05 points and the market capitalisation chalked up N1.080 trillion to finish at N96.937 trillion compared with Thursday’s closing value of N95.857 trillion.

A total of 34 shares ended on the advancers’ chart, while 24 were on the laggards’ log, representing a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.

Austin Laz gained 10.00 per cent to close at N2.42, Union Dicon also jumped 10.00 per cent to N6.60, Tantalizers increased by 9.80 per cent to N2.69, Aluminium Extrusion improved by 9.78 per cent to N12.35, and Champion Breweries grew by 9.71 per cent to N16.95.

Conversely, Sovereign Trust Insurance dipped by 7.42 per cent to N3.87, Royal Exchange lost 6.84 per cent to trade at N1.77, Omatek slipped by 6.84 per cent to N1.09, Eunisell depreciated by 5.88 per cent to N80.00, and Eterna dropped 5.63 per cent to close at N28.50.

Yesterday, traders transacted 1.5 billion units worth N21.8 billion in 25,667 deals compared with the 839.8 million units sold for N32.8 billion in 23,211 deals in the preceding session, showing a surge in the trading volume by 76.61 per cent, an uptick in the number of deals by 10.58 per cent, and a shrink in the trading value by 33.54 per cent.

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Economy

FrieslandCampina, Two Others Erase N26bn from NASD OTC Bourse

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FrieslandCampina

By Adedapo Adesanya

Three stocks stretched the bearish run of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.21 per cent on Friday, December 19, with the market capitalisation giving up N26.01 billion to close at N2.121 billion compared with the N2.147 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropping 43.47 points to 3,546.41 points from 3,589.88 points.

The trio of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, and NASD Plc overpowered the gains printed by four other securities.

FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N6.00 to sell at N54.00 per unit versus N60.00 per unit, NASD Plc shrank by N3.50 to N58.50 per share from N55.00 per share, and CSCS Plc depleted by N2.91 to N33.87 per unit from N36.78 per unit.

On the flip side, Air Liquide Plc gained N1.01 to close at N13.00 per share versus N11.99 per share, Golden Capital Plc appreciated by 70 Kobo to N7.68 per unit from N6.98 per unit, Geo-Fluids Plc added 39 Kobo to sell at N5.50 per share versus N5.11 per share, and IPWA Plc rose by 8 Kobo to 85 Kobo per unit from 77 Kobo per unit.

During the trading day, market participants traded 1.9 million securities versus the previous day’s 30.5 million securities showing a decline of 49.3 per cent. The value of trades went down by 64.3 per cent to N80.3 million from N225.1 million, but the number of deals jumped by 32.1 per cent to 37 deals from 28 deals.

Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc finished the session as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units valued at N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 178.9 million units transacted for N9.5 billion, and MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units traded for N4.9 billion.

The most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was still InfraCredit Plc with 5.8 billion units worth N16.4 billion, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.7 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units traded for N524.9 million.

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Economy

Naira Crashes to N1,464/$1 at Official Market, N1,485/$1 at Black Market

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Official FX Market

By Adedapo Adesanya

It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira at the two major foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday as it suffered a heavy loss against the United States Dollar at the close of transactions.

In the black market segment, the Naira weakened against its American counterpart yesterday by N10 to quote at N1,485/$1, in contrast to the N1,475/$1 it was traded a day earlier, and at the GTBank forex counter, it depreciated by N2 to settle at N1,467/$1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,465/$1.

In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) window, which is also the official market, the nation’s legal tender crashed against the greenback by N6.65 or 0.46 per cent to close at N1,464.49/$1 compared with the preceding session’s rate of N1,457.84/$1.

In the same vein, the local currency tumbled against the Euro in the spot market by N2.25 to sell for N1,714.63/€1 compared with the previous day’s N1,712.38/€1, but appreciated against the Pound Sterling by 73 Kobo to finish at N1,957.30/£1 compared with the N1,958.03/£1 it was traded in the preceding session.

The market continues to face seasonal pressure even as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is still conducting FX intervention sales, which have significantly reduced but not remove pressure from the Naira. Also, there seems to be reduced supply from exporters, foreign portfolio investors and non-bank corporate inflows.

President Bola Tinubu on Friday presented the government’s N58.47 trillion budget plan aimed at consolidating economic reforms and boosting growth.

The budget is based on a projected crude oil price of $64.85 a barrel and includes a target oil output of 1.84 million barrels a day. It also projects an exchange rate of N1,400 to the Dollar.

President Tinubu said inflation had plunged to an annual rate of 14.45 per cent in November from 24.23 per cent in March, while foreign reserves had surged to a seven-year high of $47 billion.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was dominated by the bulls but it continues to face increased pressure after million in liquidations in previous session over accelerating declines, with Dogecoin (DOGE) recovering 4.2 per cent to trade at $0.1309.

Further, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 3.9 per cent to $1.90, Cardano (ADA) rose by 3.5 per cent to $0.3728, Solana (SOL) jumped by 3.4 per cent to $126.23, Ethereum (ETH) climbed by 2.9 per cent to $2,982.42, Binance Coin (BNB) gained 2.0 per cent to sell for $853.06, Bitcoin (BTC) improved by 1.7 per cent to $88,281.21, and Litecoin (LTC) soared by 1.2 per cent to $76.50, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.

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