Economy
Merger News Triggers 32.20% Rise in Portland Paints Stocks
By Dipo Olowookere
The news last Monday of a merger between Chemical and Allied Products (CAP) Plc and Portland Paints and Products Nigeria Plc pushed the stocks of the latter higher by 32.20 per cent last week.
In the four-day trading week, shares of the paint maker moved from N2.05 per unit to N2.71 per unit, closer to the N2.90 CAP is offering holders of Portland Paints equities.
The proposed consideration represents a 45 per cent premium to the last traded share price of Portland Paints on October 16, 2020, being the last business day prior to the date on which CAP sent its merger proposal to the board of Portland Paints and a 41 per cent premium on the trading price as at close of trading on October 23, 2020.
This news triggered investors to buy the company’s stocks and resulted in the price appreciation it achieved last week at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
In the week also, FCMB grew by 28.28 per cent to settle at N3.13 per share, Tripple Gee and Company gained 27.78 per cent to end at 46 kobo per share, Sterling Bank appreciated by 26.43 per cent to close at N1.77 per share, while Fidelity Bank rose by 24.26 per cent to finish at N2.51 per unit.
At the close of the trading week, 68 equities appreciated in price, higher than 28 equities in the previous week.
However, there were six price losers, lower than 35 of the previous week and they were led by Morison Industries and Prestige Assurance, which went down by 10 per cent each to close at 54 kobo apiece.
Cutix depreciated by 8.95 per cent to settle at N1.73 per share, NASCON reduced by 8.39 per cent to N13.10 per share, Omatex Ventures lost 7.69 per cent to trade at 24 kobo per unit, while Cornerstone Insurance dropped 3.33 per cent to 58 kobo per unit.
In the week, prices of 94 stocks remained flat, lower than 99 recorded in the previous week.
On the activity chart, 1.9 billion shares worth N23.6 billion were traded in 23,578 deals as against the 1.5 billion shares valued at N19.7 billion transacted the previous week in 20,552 deals, Business Post learnt.
About 1.5 billion shares worth N15. 6 billion of these transactions executed in 12,546 deals were from the financial services sector, which contributed 77.41 per cent and 65.97 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
The consumer goods industry followed with 131.8 million shares worth N2.6 billion in 4,112 deals, while the third place was the industrial goods space, with a turnover of 83.5 million units worth N3.6 billion carried out in 1,818 deals.
FBN Holding, Zenith Bank and Access Bank accounted for 576.5 million units worth N6.791 billion in 4,652 deals, contributing 30.19 per cent and 28.76 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
These increase in the level of activity contributed to the 6.39 per cent growth recorded by both the All-Share Index (ASI) and market capitalisation, which closed the week at 30,530.69 points and N15.958 trillion respectively. Similarly, all other indices finished higher with the exception of the NSE ASeM index that closed flat.
Economy
BNB Price Reflects Changing Dynamics in the Digital Asset Market
Economy
NASD Unlisted Security Index Crosses 4,000-point Benchmark Again
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange achieved a milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, after five securities on the platform helped with a 1.85 per cent growth.
Data showed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) again crossed the 4,000-point benchmark yesterday.
The index chalked up 73.64 points during the trading day to close at 4,052.59 points compared with the preceding session’s 3,978.95 points, while the market capitalisation added N5.38 billion to finish at N2.424 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N2.380 trillion.
The price gainers were led by Okitipupa Plc, which grew by N25.00 to sell at N305.00 per share compared with the previous price of N280.00 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N6.92 to close at N76.26 per unit versus N69.34 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.00 to N17.00 per share from N18.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 55 Kobo to N99.55 per unit from N99.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 5 Kobo to N2.70 per share from N2.65 per share.
However, there was a price loser, MRS Oil, which dipped by N21.75 to N195.75 per unit from N217.50 per unit.
During the final session of the week, the value of securities jumped 75.2 per cent to N41.3 million from N23.6 million units, and the number of deals expanded by 62.9 per cent to 44 deals from 27 deals, while the volume of securities declined marginally by 0.9 per cent to 447,403 units from 451,522 units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
GNI was also the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units transacted for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,358/$1 as FX Reserves, Policy Uncertainty Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Friday, April 24, as its value depreciated against the major foreign currencies at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), it lost N4.53 or 0.33 per cent against the United States Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,358.44/$1, in contrast to the N1,353.91/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
Equally, the domestic currency slipped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.14 to close at N1,834.02/£1, compared with the previous rate of N1,825.88/£1 and dropped N8.01 against the Euro to sell at N1,590.73/€1 versus N1,582.72/€1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX desk on Friday by N4 to quote at N1,370/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,366/$1, and at the parallel market, it depleted by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,375/$1.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that NFEM interbank turnover surged to N43.562 million across 68 deals, up from N28.117 million the previous day.
Despite the CBN’s reassurance that the recent drop in external reserves is not worrisome, the market remains unsettled by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market as gross reserves continue to decline to $48.4 billion.
The outlook for the Dollar appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued US-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
A look at the digital currency market showed that investors are sitting on the edge as the US Dollar rebounded amid geopolitical and inflation risks despite continued inflows into US spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Solana (SOL) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell $86.45, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.2517, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0989, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.3 per cent to $1.43, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.2 per cent to $2,316.83, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $637.44.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3235, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to close at $77,562.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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