Economy
Local Stocks Sustain Growth by 0.64%
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) extended its gains on Wednesday after closing 0.64 percent higher to raise the year-to-date return to 3.77 percent.
The bullish sentiment yesterday increased the All-Share Index (ASI) of the NSE by 207.88 points to settle at 32,614.06 points, with the market capitalisation growing by N78 billion to finish at N12.162 trillion.
It was observed that the huge expectation investors have concerning the 2018 financial results of some bellwether counters is driving the bargain hunting.
This was noticeable in the level of activity recorded at the market yesterday with the total volume and value of stocks further rising by 22.65 percent and 35.63 percent.
At the close of transactions, the total volume of shares traded was 443.8 million compared with the 361.8 million units sold the previous session, while the total value of the stocks sold was N5.6 billion against N4.2 billion of the previous day.
There was a huge interest in the shares of Sterling Bank on Wednesday after the lender announced the previous day that it had received a $65 million credit facility from a bank operated by a league of Arab nations.
At the market yesterday, investors rushed to add more of the company’s stocks to their portfolio, emerging as the most traded equity with a turnover of 105.8 million units worth N253.8 million.
It was followed by GTBank, which exchanged 37.4 million shares worth N1.4 billion, and UBA, which traded 33 million equities valued at N266.2 million.
Access Bank transacted 29.4 million shares for N187.8 million, while Transcorp exchanged 25.5 million shares for N37.6 million.
Business Post also reports that the market breadth further closed positive yesterday after 26 counters closed facing north in contrast to the 16 price losers.
Leading the pack of the price risers was Nigerian Breweries, which appreciated by N7.50k to finish at N82.50k per share.
Mobil Oil rose by N1.80k to end at N170 per unit, while UAC of Nigeria appreciated by 50 kobo to settle at N9 per share.
Dangote Flour also rose by 50 kobo to finish at N9.95k per share, while Zenith Bank went up by 45 kobo to close at N25.80k per share.
On the losers’ chart, Nestle Nigeria claimed the top spot after losing N20 of its share value to settle at N1580 per unit.
Unilever Nigeria went down by 60 kobo to finish at N43 per share, while GlaxoSmithKline fell by 45 kobo to close at N11.55k per share.
Custodian Investment also depreciated by 45 kobo to end at N6.10k per share, while Flour Mills declined by 25 kobo to finish at N20.75k per share.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Thirty-one companies on Tuesday emerged as winners of the 2025 licensing round of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
The energy firms competed to take control of 50 oil and gas blocks put on offer by the Nigerian government.
They were among the 143 companies that submitted 200 bids for the oil facilities drawn from diverse terrains, including the Niger Delta Onshore, Niger Delta Shallow Water, Niger Delta Deep Offshore, Benin Basin Onshore, Anambra Basin Onshore, Chad Basin Onshore and Benue Trough.
Business Post gathered that investors, however, were only interested in 37 out of the 50 oil blocks put up for sale by the NUPRC. This is the first time in Nigeria’s energy history that frontier basins would attract such a level of investor interest.
The organisations that won the bids include SSonic Petroleum Limited (PPL 2A29), CFP Pipeline and Flowlines (2A30), Dutchford E&P Limited (2A32), Attabanson Global Company Limited (2A33 and PPL 901), Rosem Energy Limited (2A38), Pivot-GIS Limited (2A39), Network E&P (2A40), Asharami (2A41), LexOil (2A42), BVOF (2A43), GupscoEnergy Limited (2A44 and 2A51), Saratoga (2A45), Volante (2A46), Concept-Reel Petroleum Services Limited (2A47 and 2A55), Clinton Oil Field (2A48 and 2A62) and Nuway Oaklane Limited (2A49).
Others are Ramec (2A50), Italia (2A53), Blueridge E&P (2A54), Up Energies Limited (2A56), AYM Shafa (2A57), Blackrock Holdings Limited (2A58), Funtay Integrated Business Limited (2A59), Riparian Development and Production Limited (2A60), Nikstallis (2A61 and PPL 900), Stardeep Petroleum (PPL 2010), Dakoda & U Limited (PPL308 and PPL 800), Southborne Oil and Gas Limited (PPL 902), Lanaka Petroleum (PPL 903) HighbanResources Limited (PPL 700), Eyre Energy Limited (PPL 801).
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices rose roughly 2 per cent on Tuesday as investors reacted to mounting concerns that escalating hostilities between the United States and Iran and threats by Yemen’s Houthis to blockade Saudi Arabia could disrupt global energy supplies.
Brent futures rose $1.79 or 2.0 per cent to $91.01 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained $1.68 or 2.0 per cent to settle at $84.91 per barrel.
US forces bombed targets in the south and west of Iran while Iran targeted American sites in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan and at least one tanker was hit in the Strait of Hormuz.
Supply concerns resurfaced with the Strait essentially closed again and tanker traffic at multi-month lows, to the level from before the ceasefire between the US and Iran, which appears to be over at the moment.
Prices could go much higher if the renewed conflict drags on for a few more months, as the world has now drained a lot of the buffers that had kept oil surges in check between March and May.
Drained strategic and commercial inventories in many key oil-consuming economies, including the US, are setting the stage for further oil price rallies during the busiest oil demand season.
The just-declared Houthi blockade on Saudi maritime shipping has already begun to witness ill-effects, as reports emerge of two oil tankers having made U-turns while initially en route toward the Suez Canal. It was reported that their crews received threats from Houthi militants in Yemen.
The two oil tankers, which loaded Saudi crude for China and India, made U-turns in the Red Sea and headed toward the Suez following the warning from the militia.
Meanwhile, Kuwait’s power and desalination plants caught fire for a second straight day as US and Iran traded strikes for a tenth day.
As Russia’s war with Ukraine expands beyond Ukraine’s borders, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) has stopped receiving oil from Kazakhstan after suspending loadings on Monday due to attacks on oil tankers at its Black Sea terminal.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Senate has passed a bill to repeal and re-enact the law establishing the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), paving the way for the regulatory agency to be renamed the Insurance Regulatory Commission (IRC).
The legislation, titled the Insurance Regulatory Commission (Establishment) Bill, 2026, was passed after the Senate considered and adopted the report of its committee on banking, insurance and other financial institutions.
The Chairman of the committee, Mr Adetokunbo Abiru, the senator representing Lagos East, who presented the report, stated that the proposed legislation was necessary because the existing National Insurance Commission Act of 1997 had become outdated and no longer reflected the realities of Nigeria’s evolving insurance industry or global regulatory standards.
According to the Senate, the decision to change the Commission’s name was informed by the need to eliminate confusion associated with the existing designation and to better reflect the institution’s regulatory mandate within Nigeria’s insurance industry.
The bill also provides legal protection for the commission and its officers against adverse claims arising from the lawful execution of their statutory duties.
However, he noted that the commission’s enabling law had become obsolete, exposing significant regulatory gaps that required urgent legislative intervention.
‘The current National Insurance Commission Act 1997 is outdated and does not adequately address the emerging economic growth, needs and development of the insurance business,” the lawmaker said.
He explained that the new legislation seeks to strengthen the independence of the commission by empowering it to make regulatory decisions without undue influence in the country’s insurance sector.
According to him, the bill also enhances the commission’s authority to exchange information and collaborate with domestic and international regulatory bodies, issue regulations, guidelines, standards and directives on insurance-related matters, and intervene more effectively in financially distressed insurance companies to protect policyholders and preserve financial stability.
This marks yet another move to strengthen the country’s insurance sector following the enactment of the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) of 2025 and the industry-wide recapitalisation exercise, which will wrap up by July 31.
