European Equities Extend Gains on Easing Political Concerns

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) kicked off the first trading session in the last week of the third quarter of the year on a negative note, with the key performance indices going down by 0.66 per cent on Monday. This was partly caused by the reaction of investors to the 30 Kobo interim dividend declaration of the board of Access Holdings Plc. A few days ago, its peer, UBA Plc, raised its interim dividend payment by 150 per cent to 50 Kobo and it was expected that Access Holdings would follow the same path. However, the company disappointed

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil prices moderated in choppy trade on Monday as Russia relaxed its fuel ban amid a widening demand worry. Brent crude futures lost 2 cents during the session to trade at $93.29 per barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude depreciated by 35 cents to close at $89.68 per barrel. Last week, prices were down after a hawkish Federal Reserve rattled global financial markets and raised concerns that interest rates could stay higher for longer affecting oil demand. This snapped a three-week rally of more than 10 per cent after Saudi Arabia and Russia constrained

By Aduragbemi Omiyale Mr Tokunbo Akande, the Special Adviser to the Executive Chairman of the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS), Mr Ayodele Subair, has waded into the controversies surrounding stamp duty. The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) have been at loggerheads at to which of them should collect the revenue charged on financial transactions in the country. Mr Akande, while commenting on the matter, described stamp duty as ‘a revenue stamp and not a postage stamp.’ While featuring as a guest on The Tax Talk programme on Channels Television recently, he emphasised that

By Dipo Olowookere The trio of Universal Insurance, Oando and UBA were the busiest stocks on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited last week, trading 2.212 billion units valued at N8.907 billion in 7,593 deals, contributing 56.56 per cent and 29.32 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively. In the week, investors transacted 3.911 billion shares worth N30.379 billion in 38,536 deals versus the 2.933 billion shares worth N47.449 billion exchanged in 44,654 deals in the preceding week. Financial stocks dominated with 2.774 billion units valued at N15.241 billion in 16,379 deals, contributing 70.92 per

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed the first session of the week downwards by 0.04 per cent on Monday, January 16. The shaky performance in the stock price of UBN Property Plc led to the downfall of unlisted stocks in Nigeria yesterday. The property investment firm lost 7 Kobo during the trading session to settle at 71 Kobo per unit compared with last Friday’s value of 78 Kobo per unit. Consequently, the market capitalisation of the bourse depreciated by N400 million at the close of transactions to N927.13 billion from the N927.53 billion it quoted at

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira depreciated against the US Dollar on Tuesday by 52 kobo or 0.12 per cent at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment of the foreign exchange (forex) market. At the spot market, the exchange rate of the Naira to the greenback was N415.07/$1 in contrast to N414.55/$1 it was traded at the previous session. The Nigerian currency suffered the loss yesterday despite a reduction in the value of transactions at the investors’ window, according to data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange. Data obtained by Business Post showed that the turnover for the session went down by

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Nigerian currency opened for the week on a bullish note against the British Pound Sterling on Monday. Business Post reports that the Naira slightly appreciated by N1 against the Pound at the parallel segment of the foreign exchange market. Lately, the British currency has been performing woefully at the international markets due to political concerns in the United Kingdom. Today, the Pound fell sharply after reports over the weekend that 40 Conservative MPs had agreed to sign a letter of no confidence in Theresa May, the UK Prime Minister. Back to the local market in Nigeria,

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The board of Lafarge Africa Plc has approved and authorised the merger with both United Cement Company of Nigeria (Unicem) and Atlas Cement Company Limited. A statement signed on Friday, August 4, 2017, Mrs Edith Onwuchekwa, the company’s scribe, disclosed that the board is now waiting for the approval of the necessary regulatory bodies. According to Mrs Onwuchekwa, The board of directors of Lafarge Africa Plc gave the cement firm to “undertake a business combination/merger with United Cement Company of Nigeria (Unicem) and Atlas Cement Company Limited.” She also said the board authorised the firm to “Enter

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Nigerian currency started the week yesterday on a very negative note at the parallel (black) market segment of the foreign exchange market. At the market segment on Monday, the Naira lost N6 against both the British Pound Sterling and the Euro. Business Post reports that the local currency depreciated by N5 against the Pound, trading at N510 yesterday compared with N505 it went for last Friday. Also, the Naira went down marginally by N1 yesterday as the local currency was exchanged at N446 to the Euro against N445 it traded on Friday. However, the local currency

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Manchester United captain, Wayne Rooney, on Saturday broke Bobby Charlton’s United record of 249 goals after scoring an extra-time equaliser for the Red Devils against Stock City in a Premier League match. The England striker netted his 250th goal for United in a 1-1 draw at the bet365 Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Rooney’s goal came a fortnight after he equalled Charlton’s goal tally during an FA Cup tie against second-tier Reading. In 2015, the 31-year-old forward succeeded Charlton as England’s record goal-scorer. Speaking after the game at Stock, Rooney, who was signed by former United Manager, Sir

By Dipo Olowookere Global and African financial heads identified country risk as the biggest challenge to their ability to lend more to African countries. Speaking in Abidjan during a one-day forum on investment risks in Africa hosted by the African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI), experts acknowledged that the abundance of current liquidity in the market did nothing to alleviate the capacity constraints faced by most banks when doing business in Africa. Lenders are bound by regulations that prevent them from lending significant amounts to sub-investment grade sovereigns, which is the case for most African countries. Institutions such as ATI that

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Former national legal adviser of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Muiz Banire, has been confirmed as Chairman of the Governing Board of Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON). Mr Banire, a former Commissioner in Lagos and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) was confirmed for the position on Wednesday by the Senate. At the plenary today, Senate’s Chairman on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions Committee, Mr Rafiu Ibrahim, informed his colleagues that Mr Banire was qualified to hold the post having been screened by his committee. When the Senate President, Mr Bukola Saraki, asked