Economy
Japaul Oil Blames Media for Present Stock Market Woes
By Dipo Olowookere
The management of Japaul Oil Plc has blamed media reports for the recent downslide of its shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
Few weeks ago, there were reports that an American equity company, Milost Global Inc was investing billions of Dollar into the Nigerian firm.
This jerked up buying interests in the shares of Japaul Oil and caused a huge rise in its stocks at the market.
However, some days ago, a media platform, Business Day, questioned the authenticity of the deal, pointing out that what the US-based company was pumping into Japaul Oil was even more than the total value of the Nigerian firm.
Investors, who read the report, started offloading the shares, causing a sharp drop in the value of Japual Oil stocks at the equity market.
Not happy with this development, Chairman of Japaul Oil, Mr Jegede Paul, condemned the media report, describing it as “unfair.”
According to him, “We informed the Regulatory Authorities that we have signed Milost Equity Subscription Agreement (MESA 1) and Milost has not asked for any upfront fees from us until disbursement takes place, even the facilitation fees to Palewater who are advisers to the transaction were technically agreed to be paid when we start to drawdown on the facility despite agreement signed.
“An escrow account agreement is being worked upon to trigger the drawdown on the facility.
“We don’t really know where the dailies got their variables that do not add up mathematically about Milost math. They should have watched and see what happens about the issue of performance.
“This Newspaper Article against Milost has been wrongly perceived by the investing public and this is terribly affecting our share price on the Stock Market. This is simply sad.
“Milost currently holds no shares in Japaul as yet as we are awaiting regulatory approval, I just wonder how would it then be said that it is involved in a pumping and dump scheme in Japaul shares and the financing is provided in single tranches of between $1 to $5 million until our share price recovers.
“How will it reach high prices when we are receiving unfair reporting by one Nigerian media outlet that purports lies and in real fact is that we have opened our doors for the media to call us and verify facts before going to print.
The media needs us and we also need it and we can’t be seen fighting each other, after all, we are all Nigerians.
“It’s sad because since the BusinessDay publication, our share price has plummeted over 100 percent and the news was misconstrued opinions that remain false and unfounded.”
On his part, the Senior Partner & CIO of Milost, Mr Solly Asibey, stated that, “The ingenuity and financial engineering behind our Milost Equity Subscription Fund (MESA), as well as the Milost structure of engagement makes it easy for us to invest heavily in companies with high growth potential, whilst reducing our risk of investments through the checks and balances that are part and parcel of our framework of engagement.
“Our aim is to make investments in companies that will have a high impact within the vertical industry in which they operate, thus increasing the potential for the companies to be counted amongst the best in their industries globally.
“Our modus operandi has always been to invest in companies that will add value to the country and its citizens in terms of wealth and job creation, as well as the ability to contribute positively towards stepping up the economic transformation of the country.
“Our success is intertwined with the success of our investee companies; and from a corporate governance perspective, we subscribe to the rules and regulations of the Stock Exchange, Federal Reserve bank and the SEC in terms of all our engagements.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed higher by 1.41 per cent on Friday, May 15, supported by four securities on the platform.
During the session, FrieslandCampina Wamco Plc added N14.24 to its share price to sell for N159.00 per unit, in contrast to the previous day’s N144.76 per unit.
Further, Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) Plc appreciated by N1.34 to N72.34 per share from N71.00 per share, Geo-Fluids Plc improved its price by 4 Kobo to N2.94 per unit from N2.90 per unit, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc gained 1 Kobo to trade at 61 Kobo per share compared with Thursday’s closing price of 60 Kobo per share.
As a result, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) rose by 58.20 points to 4,188.41 points from 4,130.21 points, and the market capitalisation soared by N34.82 billion to N2.506 trillion from N2.471 trillion on Thursday.
During the session, the volume of trades went up by 180.8 per cent to 1.2 million units from 417,349 units, and the value of transactions increased by 29.8 per cent to N29.8 million from N23.2 million, while the number of deals fell by 22.6 per cent to 24 deals from 31 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 60.8 million units exchanged for N4.1 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.9 million units valued at N1.9 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 worth N8.4 billion, followed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
By Dipo Olowookere
The bears overpowered the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday, sinking it further by 0.76 per cent when the closing gong was struck by 4 pm.
The nation’s flagship equity market was under selling pressure during the session, as investors booked profits after the shares witnessed price appreciation in the past trading sessions.
The energy sector was the most impacted, as it shed 4.43 per cent. The consumer goods index declined by 0.90 per cent, the banking counter decreased by 0.15 per cent, and the industrial goods sector lost 0.08 per cent, while the insurance counter gained 2.42 per cent, which was not enough to salvage the situation.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) contracted by 1,912.19 points to 250,330.92 points from 252,243.11 points, and the market capitalisation moderated by 1.225 trillion to N160.444 trillion from N161.669 trillion.
Zichis was the worst-performing stock for the session after it gave up 9.97 per cent to close at N29.43, FTN Cocoa slipped by 9.95 per cent to N8.96, The Initiates slumped by 9.90 per cent to N32.30, LivingTrust Mortgage Bank tumbled by 9.88 per cent to N3.83, and International Energy Insurance dropped 9.71 per cent to trade at N2.79.
The best-performing stock was ABC Transport, which grew by 10.00 per cent to N6.27. May and Baker also appreciated by 10.00 per cent to N47.30, SCOA Nigeria surged by 9.98 per cent to N33.05, Trans-Nationwide Express expanded by 9.97 per cent to N7.06, and DAAR Communications jumped 9.76 per cent to N2.25.
Yesterday, investors traded 1.1 billion shares worth N44.3 billion in 65,744 deals compared with the 1.0 billion shares valued at N41.6 billion transacted in 74,822 deals a day earlier. This indicated a dip in the number of deals by 12.13 per cent, and a rise in the trading volume and value by 10.00 per cent and 6.49 per cent, respectively.
Chams was the busiest equity for the day, with 328.5 million units sold for N1.1 billion. UBA traded 61.6 million units worth N2.7 billion, First Holdco transacted 58.7 million units valued at N4.2 billion, Secure Electronic Technology exchanged 51.9 million units worth N45.0 million, and Access Holdings traded 51.8 million units valued at N1.3 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The last trading session of the week at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) ended on a negative note for the Naira on Friday, May 15, as it lost N15 Kobo or 0.1 per cent against the Dollar to trade at N1,371.04/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,370.89/$1.
However, it further appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment yesterday by N20.77 to close at N1,830.61/£1 versus Thursday’s value of N1,851.38/£1, and gained N7.91 against the Euro to settle at N1,595.07/€1 versus N1,602.98/€1.
At the GTBank FX desk, the Naira lost N2 against the US Dollar during the session to sell at N1,383/$1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,381/$1, and at the black market, it remained unchanged at N1,385/$1.
The Naira is forecast to be broadly stable, supported by Dollar sales by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) amid steady, higher oil receipts, with the market settling into a balance.
Policy direction is also expected to give the market some boost as the CBN said the new edition of the FX market guidelines will deepen liquidity, improve transparency and strengthen confidence in the country’s foreign exchange market.
According to the Governor of the CBN, Mr Yemi Cardoso, the update is due to changing global economic realities, domestic reforms and the need for a more coherent and forward-looking regulatory framework. According to him, the last edition of the FX manual was issued in 2018, making the latest review both timely and necessary.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market plunged into the red zone as rising bond yields hit risk assets across markets, while traders are increasingly betting the Federal Reserve may need to raise rates again. Rising energy prices and resurging inflation could force central banks back into tightening mode.
Cardano (ADA) shrank by 4.4 per cent to $0.2557, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 3.7 per cent to $0.1104, Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 3.5 per cent to $1.41, Solana (SOL) crashed by 3.5 per cent to $87.81, and Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 3.4 per cent to $659.64.
Further, Bitcoin (BTC) declined by 2.6 per cent to $78,547.49, Ethereum (ETH) lost 2.1 per cent to quote at $2,209.19, and TRON (TRX) tumbled by 0.7 per cent to $0.3509, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
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