Economy
Investors Lose N4bn as Bears Resurface on Customs Street
By Dipo Olowookere
The bears made a comeback to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Tuesday after investors embarked on a mild profit-taking.
Data showed that only 23 stocks ended on the gainers’ chart and 36 stocks finished on the losers’ log, representing a negative market breadth index and weak investor sentiment.
The worst-performing equity was Austin Laz after it shed 7.94 per cent to N2.90, Deap Capital declined by 6.67 per cent to N1.68, Fidson slumped by 6.67 per cent to N40.60, Caverton depreciated by 6.35 per cent to N6.49, and Berger Paints lost 5.92 per cent to sell for N36.55.
Conversely, the best-performing equity for the day was Regency Alliance after it chalked up 8.82 per cent to end at N1.48, Prestige Assurance appreciated by 6.71 per cent to N1.75, Coronation Insurance gained 6.45 per cent to settle at N3.30, Legend Internet grew by 5.45 per cent to N5.80, and CWG increased by 4.74 per cent to N18.80.
The bulls made efforts to remain in control after the insurance space rose by 1.01 per cent, the industrial goods sector appreciated by 0.30 per cent, and the consumer goods counter rose by 0.10 per cent, but the decline posted by the duo of banking and energy indices crumbled Customs Street.
Business Post reports that the banking industry fell by 0.37 per cent and the energy counter declined by 0.09 per cent, while the commodity sector closed flat.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) was marginally down by 6.20 points to 147,710.96 points from 147,717.22 points and the market capitalisation decreased by N4 billion to N93.757 trillion from N97.761 trillion.
During the session, investors bought and sold 495.1 million shares valued at N17.3 billion in 25,645 deals versus the 624.6 million shares worth N13.5 billion traded in 13.472 deals on Monday, showing a shortfall in the trading volume and number of deals by 20.73 per cent, 18.75 per cent and a growth in the trading value by 28.15 per cent.
Fidelity Bank led the activity log with 50.9 million equities valued at N1.0 billion, Chams exchanged 37.4 million stocks worth N157.8 million, Tantalizers traded 36.7 million shares for N85.3 million, Access Holdings transacted 30.2 million equities worth N784.6 million, and Sovereign Trust Insurance sold 21.7 million shares valued at N76.7 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
