Economy
Investors Lose N113bn as Blood Flows to Stock Market
By Dipo Olowookere
The stock market in Nigeria reacted negatively to the shooting of peaceful protesters at the Lekki area of Lagos State on Tuesday night by the Nigerian Army.
For about two weeks, some youths in the country have staged protests across the country, calling for police reform and an end to bad governance.
Efforts to get them off the streets were futile and yesterday, some men of the Nigerian forces opened fire on demonstrators at the Lekki Toll Plaza, who had remained peaceful since the protest began.
On Wednesday, at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), investors, who were keeping a tab on happenings in the country, especially in Lagos, where the bourse is headquartered, embarked on a selloff.
Despite the 24-hour curfew imposed on the state by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, some hoodlums went on a rampage this morning, destroying some government and private properties, including the City Mall, bus stations, the Oba of Lagos palace, Television Continental (TVC) head office, the family house of Governor Sanwo-Olu and others.
The events led to the panic button pressed by market participants at the exchange, who reduced the stocks in the portfolio for cash and watch things from the sidelines.
At the close of transactions, the value of the stock market reduced by N133 billion to N14.870 trillion from N14.983 trillion, while the All-Share Index (ASI) went down by 216.33 points to 28,449.49 points from 28,665.82 points.
Business Post reports that 326.6 million stocks worth N4.2 billion were transacted today in 4,367 deals compared with 297.3 million shares worth N2.9 billion traded in 4,736 deals recorded on Tuesday.
UBA was the most traded stock at the midweek session, trading 40.3 million units worth N272.2 million and was trailed by Zenith Bank, which transacted 39.6 million units valued at N800.9 million.
In addition, GTBank exchanged 38.2 million stocks worth N1.1 billion, Transcorp traded 31.2 million equities valued at N18.7 million, while FBN Holdings exchanged 30.0 million shares valued at N181.0 million.
On the price movement chart, MTN Nigeria ended the session as the worst-performing stock, losing N2 to finish at N138 per unit, while Guinness Nigeria lost N1 to close at N16 per share.
Lafarge Africa depreciated by 80 kobo to settle at N17.30 per unit, Ardova also declined by 80 kobo to sell for N11.90 per share, while Julius Berger depreciated by 55 kobo to close at N16.80 per unit.
Business Post reports that the market recorded four price gainers today and they were led by Nigerian Breweries, which appreciated by 50 kobo to trade at N52 per unit.
Portland Paints gained 5 kobo to settle at N2.05 per unit, Wapic Insurance appreciated by 4 kobo to quote at 44 kobo per unit, while UAC Property grew by one kobo to close at 82 kobo per share.
A look at the sectorial performance showed that apart from the insurance sector, which gained 0.57 per cent, every other sector closed in the red territory.
The banking index depreciated by 1.70 per cent, the industrial goods counter lost 0.34 per cent, the energy index declined by 0.30 per cent, while the consumer goods space lost 0.13 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) will likely stick to its existing deal to cut oil output at a meeting on Monday, April 3.
According to Reuters, this was said disclosed by five delegates from the producer group after oil prices recovered following a drop to 15-month lows due to banking fears and demand worries.
Brent crude has recovered towards $80 a barrel after falling to near $70 on March 20 as fears ease about a global banking crisis and as a halt in exports from Iraq’s Kurdistan region curbs supplies.
OPEC+ is due to hold a virtual meeting of its ministerial monitoring panel, which includes Russia and Saudi Arabia, on Monday.
The consensus was that Kurdistan curbs and recent price drops were not sufficiently important to affect the overall OPEC+ policy path for 2023.
Kurdistan’s crude oil exports – around 400,000 barrels per day shipped through an Iraqi-Turkey pipeline to Ceyhan and then on tankers to the international markets – were halted late last week by the federal government of Iraq.
Last week, the International Chamber of Commerce ruled in favour of Iraq against Turkey in a dispute over crude flows from Kurdistan. Iraq had argued that Turkey shouldn’t allow Kurdish oil exports via the Iraq-Turkey pipeline and Ceyhan without approval from the federal government of Iraq.
Talks between officials from Kurdistan and from the Iraq federal government have failed in recent days, but they are set to continue next week.
Three other OPEC+ delegates also told Reuters that any policy changes were unlikely on Monday. After those talks, the next full OPEC+ meeting is not until June.
Last November, OPEC+ reduced its output target by 2 million barrels per day – the largest cut since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The same reduction applies for the whole of 2023.
Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, has said OPEC+ will stick to the reduced target until the end of the year.
By Dipo Olowookere
The board of Oando Plc has informed the investing community of its intention to leave the Nigerian and Johannesburg stock exchanges in the coming months.
The reason for exiting the stock market, according to the energy firm, is to become a private company and to achieve this, its core investor, Ocean and Oil Development Partners Limited (OODP), has offered to buy all the shares held by minority shareholders in Oando.
OODP is offering to pay N7.07 in cash or its equivalent in South African Rand (ZAR) for each of the stock, which it said represents a 58 per cent premium to the last traded share price of Oando on Tuesday, March 28, 2023, being the day prior to the date it submitted the scheme application to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Oando trades its shares on the floors of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).
This news comes hours after the company announced that it had bounced back into profitability after years of dishing out losses to the frustration of shareholders.
In its unaudited financial results for 2021, Oando reported a profit after tax of N34.7 billion, in contrast to the loss after tax of N140.7 billion of the preceding year.
Before now, Oando has had it rough with regulators in Nigeria, leading to its suspension from the market and a court tussle over allegations that it tampered with its financial statements to deceive investors.
In the notice released this week, Oando said after the acquisition of “the shares of all minority shareholders in Oando,” it would “subsequently be delisted from NGX and JSE and re-registered as a private company.”
At the moment, the energy firm said it has “applied for the SEC’s No Objection to the scheme, noting that the deal is “subject to the approval of the shareholders of Oando at the Court-Ordered Meeting of the company, as well as the sanction of the Federal High Court.”
However, it disclosed that, “The terms and conditions of the transaction will be provided in the scheme document, which will be dispatched to all shareholders following the receipt of an order from the Federal High Court to convene a Court-Ordered Meeting,” promising to update the market “upon receipt of requisite approvals from shareholders and regulators.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The World Bank Group’s Board of Executive Directors has announced Mr Ajay Banga, a US national, as the only nominee for the position of the bank’s next president and may clinch the post if he passes the next hurdle.
This was contained in a statement issued by the World Bank on Friday.
“The World Bank Group’s Board of Executive Directors today confirmed that, as announced on February 22, the period for submitting nominations for the position of the next President of the World Bank Group closed on Wednesday at 6:00 pm ET.”
“The board received one nomination and would like to announce that Ajay Banga, a US national, will be considered for the position.
“In accordance with established procedures, the Board of Executive Directors will conduct a formal interview with the candidate in Washington D.C., and expect to conclude the Presidential election in due course,” the board said.
US President Joe Biden in February nominated Mr Banga to lead the World Bank, saying he is “well equipped” to lead the global institution at “this critical moment in history.”
No other country proposed an alternate candidate for the prestigious post.
Mr Banga, 63, was born in India and is a naturalised US citizen. He has led Mastercard Inc and now currently serves as Vice Chairman at General Atlantic.
If confirmed, Mr Banga would become the first-ever Indian-American to head either of the two top international financial institutions, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
Mr Banga is expected to replace the current World Bank president, Mr David Malpass, who will step down in June, nearly a year before his term is scheduled to expire.
Mr Malpass faced strong criticism over the bank’s commitment to climate action and over his personal views on climate change.
