Economy
GTCO, Ecobank, Others Drive 0.10% Growth in Equity Market
By Dipo Olowookere
The strong appetite for banking stocks, especially GTCO, Ecobank, Zenith Bank and others buoyed the 0.10 per cent growth recorded by the equity market on Friday.
The securities of these financial institutions were the toast of investors at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited yesterday and at the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) was up by 39.21 points as it settled at 40,868.36 points compared with the preceding day’s 40,829.15 points.
Similarly, the market capitalisation of the exchange appreciated by N21 billion as it closed at N21.296 trillion as against N21.275 trillion it ended on Thursday.
Business Post reports that the banking index closed 1.20 per cent higher, while the insurance space grew by 0.05 per cent, with the industrial goods sector closing flat.
But the energy counter went down by 0.12 per cent, while the consumer goods index depreciated by 0.03 per cent at the close of transactions for the day.
A total of 23 shares closed on the gainers’ table on Friday, while 17 equities ended on the losers’ chart, indicating a positive market breadth and investor sentiment.
University Press was the best-performing stock with a price appreciation of 9.72 per cent to close at N1.58, Sovereign Trust Insurance gained 9.09 per cent to trade at 24 kobo, Caverton grew by 6.33 per cent to N1.68, NPF Microfinance Bank went up by 5.26 per cent to N1.80, while Regency Alliance gained 5.26 per cent to trade at 40 kobo.
On the flip side, Academy Press was the worst-performing stock as its value went down by 7.69 per cent to 36 kobo, Africa Prudential lost 6.06 per cent to settle at N6.20, Honeywell Flour fell by 3.78 per cent to N3.56, Jaiz Bank dropped 3.33 per cent to quote at 58 kobo, while Mutual Benefits Assurance depreciated by 3.23 per cent to 30 kobo.
The activity level suffered a significant fall yesterday as the trading volume dropped 59.24 per cent to 331.1 million units from the preceding session’s 812.3 million units, the trading value fell by 72.40 per cent to N2.9 billion from N10.6 billion, while the number of deals went down by 18.03 per cent to 3,986 deals from 4,863 deals.
A breakdown showed that investors bought and sold 154.7 million stocks of FBN Holdings valued at 1.5 billion at the market on Friday, while 17.3 million shares of GTCO worth N495.2 million exchanged hands.
Furthermore, Fidelity Bank traded 13.8 million stocks worth N35.9 million, Transcorp sold 12.5 million equities valued at N12.1 million, while Ecobank transacted 11.6 million shares worth N72.0 million.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Shares of First Holdco Plc worth N45.0 billion issued through a private placement have been listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
A circular issued by the Head of Issuer Regulation Department of the NGX Regulation Limited, Mr Godstime Iwenekhai, disclosed that the equities were admitted for trading at the stock market on Monday.
According to the notice, the additional shares brought for listing to rank pari passu with existing shares of the organisation were 1,021,334,544 units.
These stocks were sold to one of the company’s major shareholders at a unit price of N44.06, amounting to N45.0 billion.
The total issued and fully paid-up shares of First Holdco, as a result of this listing, are now 45,475,027,677 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each.
“Trading licence holders are hereby notified that an additional 1,021,334,544 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each of First Holdco Plc were on Monday, June 22, 2026, listed on the daily official list of Nigerian Exchange Limited.
“The additional shares listed on NGX arose from the company’s private placement of 1,021,334,544 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N44.06 per share.
“With the listing of the additional shares, the total issued and fully paid-up shares of First Holdco Plc have now increased to 45,475,027,677 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each from 44,453,693,133 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each,” the disclosure stated.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has approved fresh import licences for petrol and diesel for the third quarter of 2026 (July – September) to prevent potential supply shortages in the domestic market.
According to a report by global energy intelligence firm, Argus Media, the latest approvals were issued to major downstream operators amid declining fuel stock levels and concerns over reduced petrol production at the 700,000 barrels per day Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lagos.
The move comes as Nigeria continues to balance increasing local refining capacity with the need to guarantee adequate supplies of petroleum products across the country.
According to the Argus report, domestic firms, including AA Rano, AYM Shafa, Bono Energy, Nipco, Matrix Energy and Pinnacle Oil, received permits to import Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol, during the July-September period.
The publication further reported that the same companies, with the exception of Nipco, were granted approvals to import Automotive Gas Oil, commonly known as diesel. The fresh approvals follow an earlier batch of petrol import permits issued by the regulator in May, covering about 720,000 metric tonnes.
Quoting a regulatory source, Argus noted that many of the companies granted the latest approvals were among those that had received permits in previous rounds. “These are some of the same ones that previously received the PMS permits,” the source was quoted as saying.
It was also claimed that AA Rano and Matrix Energy each received approvals to import 180,000 metric tonnes of petrol. AYM Shafa received approval for 120,000 metric tonnes, while Pinnacle Oil received a permit covering 150,000 metric tonnes.
For diesel imports, Argus reported that AYM Shafa obtained a permit for 60,000 metric tonnes, while Pinnacle secured approval for 45,000 metric tonnes. The report stated that the import approvals were issued only recently, after being delayed from an initial target date of June 15.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Three securities weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.01 per cent on Tuesday, June 23, dragging the market capitalisation down by N25.91 billion to N2.544 trillion from Monday’s N2.570 trillion. Also, the NASD Security Index (NSI) decreased by 43.17 points to 4,239.34 points from 4,282.51 points.
The triplet price losers were Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which gave up N4.82 to trade at N75.00 per unit versus Monday’s closing price of N79.82 per unit. NASD Plc depreciated by N3.70 to close at N33.30 per share compared with the preceding day’s N37.00 per share, and Nitrox Industrial Gases Plc marginally lost 1 Kobo to sell at N21.41 per unit, in contrast to the previous session’s N21.42 per unit.
Tuesday’s trading data showed that the volume of securities traded by investors retreated by 35.9 per cent to 211,671 units from 330,034 units, and the value of securities fell by 82.9 per cent to N5.6 million from N32.7 million, while the number of deals doubled to 38 deals from 19 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 68.1 million units transacted for N4.7 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the trading day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, trailed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units sold for N415.7 million.
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