Economy

E-Dividends Registration: Investors Rush to Beat Deadline

Published

8 years ago

26/12/2017

By Dipo Olowookere

There is last-minute rush by shareholders in the Nigerian capital market to register for free for the electronic dividend (e-dividend) payment system introduced by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The regulatory agency fixed December 31, 2017 as deadline for the free registration of the e-dividend payment system.

Last month, while addressing capital market correspondents, the suspended Director General of SEC, Mr Mounir Gwarzo, had lamented the low level of enrolment for the e-dividend exercise, noting that the level of compliance had dropped lately.

He had said in August 2017, a total of 50,819 investors registered for the e-dividend, while it increased to 59,204 in September, but dropped to 37,153 in October.

Mr Gwarzo had warned that SEC would not extend the December 31, 2017 deadline for the registration despite pleas by stakeholders for an extension.

According to him, SEC has been underwriting the cost of the e-dividend and from next year, investors will have to pay N150 for the exercise.

“We realised that there is a slow pace in terms of the implementation of the e-dividend as in the last three-four months, there has not been appreciable increase in terms of number of people registering.

“By December 31, 2017, any Nigerian that does not register for e-dividend will now have to pay N150 for registration.

“We have been pursuing this initiative since last year and SEC has been underwriting the cost. The moment you start extending, people will think they have 100 years to do it.

“I don’t think we should keep on extending it, we want to keep our word on that December 31. Whoever that does not register should be able to pay the amount stipulated,” Mr Gwarzo had told newsmen.

At the first Capital Market Committee (CMC) meeting for 2017, Mr Gwarzo had disclosed that about 2.2 million investors in the capital market registered for the e-dividend payment system.

But with three working days left before the deadline, there is a huge rush for registration.

From January 1, 2018, investors in the capital market will no longer be able to receive their dividends physically, but would be paid directly into their bank accounts.

Business Post gathered that investors, who were yet to register for the exercise, are in a last-minute rush to key into the system.

However, some of them complained that the process of registering for the exercise has been cumbersome.

According to the Nation, a cross section of capital market stakeholders at the weekend showed increased activities on the registration. At the various registration points – banks, registrars and stockbrokers, officials confirmed that there have been noticeable increases in request for e-dividend.

Stakeholders, who spoke with The Nation at the weekend called on SEC to extend the e-dividend registration citing hitches that had slowed down the process of registration. They noted that given the importance of the e-dividend system to the stock market, SEC should allow the e-dividend and dividend warrants to run concurrently while improving enlightenment campaign for the e-dividend.

Shareholders United Front (SUF) National Coordinator, Mr Gbenga Idowu, said SEC should extend the deadline for the e-dividend registration to enable retail shareholders that are having difficulties with the registration to resolve the issues.

He urged SEC to widen its publicity campaign to other nooks and crannies of the country.

Standard Shareholders Association of Nigeria National President, Mr Godwin Anono, said SEC should allow open-ended registration for the e-dividend as part of its market development mandate.

He alleged that registrars were frustrating shareholders with unnecessary additional requirements for the e-dividend even when shareholders have provided their Biometric Verification Number (BVN).

According to him, many registrars were stalling the e-dividend registration because they are the main beneficiaries of the lopsided system where dividends are either delayed or categorised as unclaimed.

Constance Shareholders Association of Nigeria National President, Mallam Shehu Mikhail, said SEC should compel the three main stakeholders in the registration process – the Central Securities Clearing System, registrars and stockbroking firms to harmonise their data base using the Know-Your-Customer (KYC) information from the stockbroking firms.

SEC last year announced last June 30, as deadline for issuing physical dividend warrants but later extended it to December 31 to shareholders by quoted companies to tackle unclaimed dividends and mitigate the risks associated with warrants.

In November 2015, SEC launched the E-Dividend Mandate Management System (E-DMMS) with the Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) and other stakeholders. The E-DMMS is an E-dividend payment portal that ensures the payment of dividends into a shareholder’s account.

It is believed that these steps taken by the Commission would help to reduce the increase of unclaimed dividend which stood at N117 billion as at December 31, 2016. Of this figure, N86 billion was in the custody of the paying companies while N13.7 billion was with the registrars. From November 2015, when the SEC kicked off the campaign on e-dividends, about N42.2 billion has been paid to investors from the backlog of unclaimed dividends.

Economy

MRS Oil, FrieslandCampina Wamco Shrink NASD Index by 0.68%

Published

2 days ago

06/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The duo of MRS Oil and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.68 per cent on Friday, June 5.

MRS Plc lost N19.00 during the session to sell at N171.00 per share compared with Thursday’s value of N190.00 per share, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N8.70 to finish at N181.68 per unit compared with the preceding session’s N190.38 per unit.

As a result, the market capitalisation further lost N22.59 billion to close at N2.607 trillion versus the N2.630 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropped 37.76 points to settle at 4,358.32 points, in contrast to the previous day’s 4,396.08 points.

The alternative stock market closed the last trading day of this week with a price gainer, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which gained 6 Kobo to quote at N78.40 per share compared with the preceding session’s N78.34 per share. However, it could not prevent the market from going down at the close of business.

Yesterday, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors went down by 50.0 per cent to 140,345 units from the preceding day’s 280,714 units, the value of stocks decreased by 16.5 per cent to N17.9 million from the previous session’s N21.5 million, and the number of deals carried out by market participants fell by 35.7 per cent to 27 deals from the 42 deals recorded on Thursday.

When trading activities closed for the day, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 64.7 million units traded for N4.4 billion.

GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.

Economy

NGX Index Rebounds 0.15% on Renewed Interest in Financial Stocks

Published

2 days ago

06/06/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

Renewed interest in financial stocks and others lifted the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited by 0.15 per cent on Friday.

Customs Street closed higher yesterday despite the 1.37 per cent loss recorded by the consumer goods sector as a result of profit-taking.

This was offset by gains in the other key sectors of the local bourse, as the insurance counter chalked up 1,14 per cent. The banking space appreciated by 0.90 per cent, the industrial goods segment grew by 0.46 per cent, and the energy sector expanded by 0.01 per cent.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 366.00 points to 242,593.31 points from 242,227.31 points, and the market capitalisation gained N235 billion to close at N155.594 trillion compared with the previous day’s N155.359 trillion.

The trio of International Energy Insurance, Abbey Mortgage Bank, and DAAR Communications improved by 10.00 per cent each yesterday to N7.26, N9.35, and N1.98, respectively, while Zichis advanced by 9.39 per cent to N32.38, with Sovereign Trust Insurance up by 8.70 per cent to N2.50.

On the flip side, Academy Press lost 9.84 per cent to quote at N8.25, University Press depreciated by 9.73 per cent to N5.10, Africa Prudential dipped by 2.63 per cent to N12.95, Chams crumbled by 2.44 per cent to N4.00, and International Breweries slipped by 1.59 per cent to N12.35.

Business Post reports that the market breadth index was positive during the session after recording 37 appreciating equities and 14 depreciating equities, implying strong investor sentiment.

Abbey Mortgage Bank led the activity chart with a turnover of 164.1 million units worth N1.5 billion, Ellah Lakes sold 76.7 million units for N767.2 million, Access Holdings transacted 44.8 million units valued at N1.1 billion, Linkage Assurance exchanged 23.0 million units worth N41.2 million, and The Initiates traded 20.2 million units for N562.1 million.

At the close of trades, market participants transacted 608.5 million units worth N32.0 billion in 53,826 deals versus the 588.5 million units valued at N27.9 billion executed in 57,352 deals in the previous session. This showed that the number of deals eased by 6.15 per cent, the volume of transactions rose by 3.40 per cent, and the value of transactions soared by 14.70 per cent.

Economy

Naira Depreciates to N1,362/$1 at Official Market

Published

2 days ago

06/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira further depreciated against the United States Dollar by N3.46 or 0.25 per cent to N1,362.21/$1 from N1,358.75/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 5.

However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market window during the session by N4.47 to trade at N1,823.59/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,828.06/£1, and gained N7.00 against the Euro to sell at N1,574.58/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,581.58/€1.

For another trading session, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the Dollar in the parallel market and the GTBank forex counter on Friday at N1,375/$1 and N1,372/$1, respectively.

The Naira is expected to remain strong in the near term, backed by a rise in external reserves, which are nearing $50 billion, enhancing analysts’ confidence about its outlook in the second half of 2026.

Heightened global uncertainty has reduced the incentive for importers and corporates to demand FX, as cautious trade weighs on import needs. Analysts estimate a $40 billion net FX position for the year, a projection anchored in oil windfall gains.

As for the cryptocurrency market, prices remained depressed following a strong US jobs report that spurred markets to price in higher-for-longer interest rates, sending Treasury yields and the dollar up while hammering stocks, especially AI-related names. Crypto markets saw heavy leverage washouts with about $1.6 billion in positions liquidated over 24 hours.

Ethereum (ETH) gave up 4.9 per cent to trade at $1,584.68, Solana (SOL) fell by 3.3 per cent to $63.22, Bitcoin (BTC) crashed by 1.9 per cent to $61,333.23, Dogecoin (DOGE) slipped by 1.8 per cent to $0.0821, and Ripple (XRP) moderated by 1.8 per cent to $1.09.

Further, TRON (TRX) dropped 1.6 per cent to sell at $0.3197, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 1.0 per cent to $581.18, and Cardano (ADA) declined by 0.4 per cent to $0.1589, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) gained 0.07 to sell at $0.9997, and US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $0.9998.